“The banalization of this archetype of hate and discrimination is scathing... Destroy all supplies of the Hitler hoodie, investigate and cut all contacts with the delinquent company. An apology is due to the Jewish community, lest the ‘Hitler hoodie’ becomes a symbol for neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate.”
Paris, 27 December 2020
Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed outrage to Vova – through its headquarters in London, its offices in Hong Kong and its press office in Paris – for its online sale of what Vova trades as “Casual Adolf Hitler Funny Graphic Hoodies New Fashion for Men.”
Samuels noted that, “Vova prides itself that it is ‘on mission to provide high quality products from the most trusted companies worldwide’,” continuing, “Vova has betrayed that mission on both levels as describing ‘Adolf Hitler’ as ‘casual’ or ‘funny’ and fails in receiving it from a ‘most trusted company’. The banalization of this archetype of hate and discrimination is scathing!”
The letter argued that, “Hitler was responsible for over 50 million dead in World War Two – among them, 6 million Jews and unknown numbers of Roma Gypsies, Gays, Slavs and the Handicapped... Our mentor, the late Simon Wiesenthal, calculated the non-military victims in Nazi mass grave shootings, concentration and death camps as ‘6,000,000 Jews and 5,000,000 Gentiles’.”
The Centre called on Vova “to immediately destroy all supplies of the Hitler hoodie, investigate and cut all contacts with the delinquent company. An apology is due to the Jewish community, lest the ‘Hitler hoodie’ becomes a symbol for neo-Nazi and white supremacist hate.”
“We await your measures,” concluded Samuels.
* * *
Please contact us if you are a witness or victim of antisemitism or other forms of discrimination on social media.
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” (Simon Wiesenthal, 1908-2005)