The garment, which was marketed online as a striped sheriff T-shirt, has been removed following complaints by critics who blasted it as insensitive and out of touch for its similarity to clothing Nazis required Jews to wear in concentration camps throughout Europe during World War II.
Spanish clothier Zara is apologizing for a children’s T-shirt that some say resembles garments worn by Jewish prisoners in World War II concentration camps, complete with a six-pointed, yellow star.
The garment, which was marketed online as a striped sheriff T-shirt, has been removed following complaints by critics who noted its similarity to clothing Nazis required Jews to wear in concentration camps throughout Europe during World War II. One Holocaust survivor told FoxNews.com that the yellow star on the shirt’s left breast is strikingly comparable to the yellow star of David and should have been shut down during production.
It is offensive and it either comes out of one of two things: Total ignorance, which I cannot believe, or insensitivity, said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. And so, either one is bad. These are people who are supposed to know style and understand whats out there. How many people were involved in the design and production and nobody said anything?
– Abraham Foxman, Anti-Defamation League
Foxman acknowledged he may be more sensitive to questionable imagery links than other critics, but he said the company should have known better.
Really, they cant claim ignorance because its not just one persons ignorance here, Foxman told FoxNews.com. I just cant understand. Its not funny, its not chic; its crude and offensive.
Foxman noted that this isnt the first time a retail clothing company has designed a shirt with insensitive imagery reminiscent of the stars that Jews were forced to wear in the ghettos of Europe during World War II. In April 2012, Danish company Wood Wood apologizing for selling a T-shirt bearing a logo similar to a Jewish Star of David after concerns were raised by ADL.
The fact that this keeps happening shows that there is a serious need for education about the Holocaust and the history of anti-Semitism, Foxman said.
Only 54 of the worlds population has heard of the Holocaust in Europe, according to a recent ADL survey cited by Foxman. Of those, 4 percent believe the Holocause was a myth and 28 percent think the number of Jews killed have been greatly exaggerated.
Read more here: