‘Magic’ T-Shirts Beg Neo-Nazis To Change Ways

Image by iStockphoto
Even following the usual instructions to wash t-shirts inside out to preserve their logos would not have made a difference in this case.
Two-hundred-and-fifty attendees at a recent Neo-Nazi-sponsored “Rock for Germany” concert in Gera, Germany unwittingly ended up with souvenir t-shirts designed so that their logos would come off in the shirts’ first washings.
According to a report in the Toronto Sun, this was not due to shoddy manufacturing, but rather was the result of intentional planning. The washed t-shirts revealed a hidden message: “If your t-shirt can do it, you can do it too — we’ll help you get away from right-wing extremism.”
EXIT, a group that helps right-wing nationalist youth extricate themselves from their involvement with Neo-Nazis and their ilk, was behind this bit of subversive bait-and-switch merchandising. The group donated the t-shirts anonymously to the concert organizers, who were associated with the far-right National Democratic Party.
Concert organizer Gordon Richter thought the t-shirts were a big waste of money. EXIT founder Bernd Wagner, on the other hand, said he thought they were a good way of reaching his group’s intended audience. Perhaps the surprising souvenirs will provoke a few young extremists to have a change of heart.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Should Diaspora Jews be buried in Israel? A rabbi responds
-
Fast Forward In first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages
-
Fast Forward Huckabee denies rift between Netanyahu and Trump as US actions in Middle East appear to leave out Israel
-
Fast Forward Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.