Auschwitz Museum demands London shop pull Gestapo costume
Nazi officer getup sold online is ‘disrespectful on so many levels,’ memorial tells retailer Escapade on Twitter
The Auschwitz Memorial Museum on Monday castigated a London costume shop for offering Nazi Gestapo garb on its website.
Describing itself as “London’s ultimate fancy dress experience,” Escapade offers various costumes in a plethora of categories. But one item raised the ire of the Holocaust museum’s officials — that of an officer in the German Gestapo, the Nazis’ secret police.
“Bearing his traditional black uniform, the Gestapo are amongst the most brutal organizations within the Nazi Regime, making this costume one of the most recognizable anywhere in the world,” the product description reads.
It also offers buyers the option of buying “Chaplin Moustache + Eyebrows” to “complete the look” — apparently in order to use Chaplin’s toothbrush mustache as a Hitler reference.
“Dear @escapade_uk. Do you really think that selling a Gestapo officer costume is ok and fun?” the museum wrote on Twitter, and suggested shop owners study up on Wikipedia.
“Read more about an organization that symbolizes the organized terror of the Nazi state. Please remove the item. It’s disrespectful on so many levels.”
.Dear @escapade_uk. Do you really think that selling a Gestapo officer costume is ok and fun? Read more about an organization that symbolizes the organized terror of the Nazi state: https://t.co/GIzpD2ggzJ | Please remove the item. It's disrespectful on so many levels. pic.twitter.com/WZvo6V3L6V
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) December 9, 2018
Reviews posted on the product page indicated the costume has been available on the website for the past seven years. As of this writing, it still was.
