The “Arbeit macht frei” sign at the main gate of the Auschwitz concentration and death camp. Image by Wikimedia Commons

By Adrianna Chaviva Freedman May 8, 2019

Everything is so commercial these days — even images of a Nazi death camp.

The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum rebuked the online marketplace Redbubble on Tuesday, stating that using images of the concentration camp on vanity items isn’t appropriate.

The museum’s account included screenshots of products being sold on the site by three different users — an “Auschwitz II Birkenau” throw pillow, an Auschwitz tote bag, and a “chimney” mini skirt. Redbubble is an online venue for independent “stores” to sell housewares personalized with artwork and digital prints.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The museum tweeted directly at Redbubble, writing “Do you really think that selling such products as pillows, mini skirts or tote bags with the images of Auschwitz – a place of enormous human tragedy where over 1.1 million people were murdered – is acceptable? This is rather disturbing and disgraceful.”

.@redbubble Do you really think that selling such products as pillows, mini skirts or tote bags with the images of Auschwitz – a place of enormous human tragedy where over 1,1 million people were murdered – is acceptable? This is rather disturbing and disrespectful. pic.twitter.com/cdPvZGMXC6

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 7, 2019

“We are taking immediate action to remove these and similar works available on these product types,” the company wrote. “Redbubble is the host of an online marketplace where independent users take responsibility for the images they upload.”

Redbubble is the host of an online marketplace where independent users take responsibility for the images they upload. We have onsite reporting functions in place and are grateful to be made aware of these concerns. (2/2)

— Redbubble Help (@RedbubbleHelp) May 7, 2019

The company added that they “are grateful to be made aware of these concerns.”

The social media exchange comes just short of a week after Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. In March 2019, the Auschwitz Museum urged tourists to stop taking photos on the train tracks leading to the front of the camp in respect to those who were killed in the Holocaust.

Adrianna Chaviva Freedman is the Social Media Intern for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ac_freedman

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. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

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.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount