The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum asked e-commerce giant Amazon on Sunday to remove Christmas ornaments featuring images of the former Nazi concentration camp that are on sale on its website.
“Selling ‘Christmas ornaments’ with images of Auschwitz does not seem appropriate. Auschwitz on a bottle opener is rather disturbing and disrespectful. We ask @amazon to remove the items of those suppliers,” read a message posted on the museum’s official Twitter account.
The controversial items being sold show the iconic image of train tracks leading to the entrance of the death camp, while another ornament features the former Jewish ghetto in Krakow. According to the Amazon listing, the items were created by a maker called Fcheng, but are being shipped and sold on the site by Eidecot. Both Amazon and the seller did not immediately respond to the Algemeiner‘s request for comment.
At the time of publication the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum’s Twitter post has already garnered 1,900 retweets and 6,000 likes.
Many social media users expressed their frustration with the sale of the items on Amazon, calling it “repulsive,” “appalling” and “sick.” One Twitter user wrote, “Monetizing the monstrosity that was the Holocaust is disgusting and reprehensible,” while another asked, “Why would you want this on your Christmas tree?” Others noted that they have contacted the seller and Amazon to complain about the products.
In August, Amazon in the United Kingdom stopped the selling of a clothing line that featured a photograph of a Holocaust victim being executed.