Auschwitz Mini Skirts, Throw Pillows, To Be Removed From Online Store

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.

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 freedman@forward.com or on Twitter @ac_freedman

Adrianna Chaviva Freedman is an entertainment writer living in New York City. You could find her work on her website and follow her on Twitter at @ac_freedman.

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