Zara Pulls Striped ‘Holocaust’ Shirt

By JTA August 27, 2014

In worst idea ever, Zara sells shirt similar to that of Nazi camp inmates. On Israeli site too http://t.co/Kqs3PfXq31 pic.twitter.com/PRuEfn6Wsr

— Oren Kessler (@OrenKessler) August 27, 2014

The international clothing chain Zara has apologized for offering for sale a blue and white striped shirt with a six –pointed yellow star on the chest.

The shirt, for toddler boys, is identified on the Zara Israel website as a “striped sheriff t-shirt,” but Israelis on social media have called it everything from poor taste to anti-Semitic.

The yellow star has the word sheriff cut out in small letters.

The company has removed the stock from its warehouses and plans to destroy it, according to the Israeli business daily Globes. The shirt also was available on Zara’s French, Albanian and Swedish websites.

“We express our sincere apologies for any hurt to our customers’ feelings,” the company said in a statement.

The shirt remained on the Zara Israel internet site as of early Wednesday afternoon.

In September 2007, Zara removed a handbag with swastikas embroidered in it. The handbags were manufactured in India and inspired by commonly used Hindu symbols, which include the swastika.

In 2009, the Spanish retailer removed Christmas trees from the windows of its stores in Israel after complaints from customers.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Anti-Defamation League made a statement about the shirt.

“The shirt emblazoned with the yellow star is in poor taste and is deeply offensive to Jews and Holocaust survivors. To anyone who knows their history, this kind of imagery should be off-limits. We welcome Zara’s recognition of the shirt’s potentially offensive imagery and removal from sale,” said ADL National Director and Holocaust survivor, Abe Foxman.

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO