WASHINGTON — Amazon said Monday it has removed “Christmas ornaments” and other merchandise bearing the images of Auschwitz that had been available on its online site.
Amazon, which functions as a marketplace on top of selling products itself, said in a statement that “all sellers must follow our selling guidelines” and that those who do not will be removed.
The move comes after the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum on Sunday appealed to Amazon to remove the merchandise, which also included an Auschwitz bottle opener and a Birkenau “massacre” mouse pad.
It said that, “Selling ‘Christmas ornaments’ with images of Auschwitz does not seem appropriate. Auschwitz on a bottle opener is rather disturbing and disrespectful.”
Many others on Twitter voiced outrage.
According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, Auschwitz Concentration Camp was created for Polish political prisoners. Prisoners there grew steadily, and by 1941,more than 26 thousand people were registered, including Polish people, Soviet POWs and Jewish people.
Auschwitz was one of many concentration camps involved in the mass extermination of Jewish people, as more and more were transported there in later years. About 197 thousand Jews were deported there in 1942, 270 thousand the following year and more than 600 thousand in 1944. By 1944, 205 thousand of the 400 thousand prisoners registered at Auschwitz were Jewish.
