Amazon Yanks Auschwitz- Themed Christmas Decor

Plus a bottle opener and 'Jewish Death' mouse pad
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2019 9:45 AM CST
Amazon Yanks Auschwitz- Themed Christmas Decor
This Oct. 19, 2012, photo shows the entrance to the former Auschwitz death camp in Oswiecim, Poland.   (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)

If you find an Auschwitz-themed bottle opener or Christmas ornament to be in completely bad taste, you're not the only one. Per the Guardian, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum spent much of the weekend blasting Amazon online for offering Christmas decorations and other products featuring images of the Nazi death camp. "Selling 'Christmas ornaments' with images of Auschwitz does not seem appropriate," the museum tweeted. "Auschwitz on a bottle opener is rather disturbing and disrespectful." It asked the e-commerce giant to remove those items, which CNN Business reports were offered by third-party sellers. After initially thinking Amazon had complied, the museum found yet another "disturbing" product: a "Massacre Auschwitcz (!) Birkenau Jewish Death" mouse pad.

An Amazon spokesperson tells CNN that all such Auschwitz-themed products have now been taken off the site. "All sellers must follow our selling guidelines, and those who do not will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account," the rep adds. Despite these efforts, the Washington Post notes other Holocaust-themed items remain for sale on Amazon, including a "memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe" fridge magnet/bottle opener and a "memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe" Valentine's Day keychain, featuring a heart that says "I love you." And even though the products appear to be scrubbed from Amazon, MarketWatch reports the museum is now going after Wish.com, another e-commerce site, for hawking similar items: "We hope that their reaction will be similar to #Amazon and such [products] will be quickly removed too." (More Auschwitz stories.)

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