**UPDATE** Wiesenthal Center Criticizes Offensive Use of Holocaust Themes by American Clothing Company Teespring

August 9, 2017

**UPDATE**  

The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s protests finally led to Teespring to stop selling all items bearing neo-Nazi slogans, swastikas or likenesses of Adolf Hitler.

The Center noted that the promotion and sale of such items validated and promoted anti-Semitism and racism.

“We are hopeful that Teespring fully understands that such apparel is not a suitable vehicle to market to the community at-large. Such dangerous and hurtful symbols and slogans also debase the memory of the Holocaust and cause needless suffering to the families of 6 million Jewish victims and aging Holocaust survivors”, said Dr. Efraim Zuroff, SWC Israel Director

The Wiesenthal Center will continue to monitor global online businesses for any similar activity in the future through its Digital Terrorism and Hate Project.
 

August 7, 2017

Jerusalem - The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized what it considers to be the highly offensive misuse of Nazi symbols and Holocaust-related themes by the American clothing company Teespring. In a statement issued here today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center emphasized that the teeshirts offered for sale on Teespring's website over the past two days reek of a total lack of sensitivity and disregard for the horrific results of the Holocaust and World War II.

According to Zuroff:
"Teespring's outrageous campaign began yesterday with a naïve in the best case, and insidious in the worst case, attempt to turn the swastika, which has become the identifiable symbol of the Nazi Party and the genocidal regime of the Third Reich, into a supposed symbol of peace, an idea which has no validity or reasonable possibility of success. It continued today with new offerings which bore captions such as "Hitler Did NOTHING Wrong Ever," and "We're All Hitler Now," and "The New Hitler.Deal With It," on the background of a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"Teespring's lack of sensitivity on these issues is repulsive and the company's obvious goal is to shock people and reap the possible financial rewards, under the guise of their supposed creativity.

In our opinion, such creativity deserves censure and boycott rather than any type of success and admiration."

For additional information please contact the Israel Office of the Wiesenthal Center: Tel: 972-2-563-1274 or Tel: 972-50-721-4156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal and @EZuroff for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).