French shop chain apologizes over swastika money belts

French supermarket chain Auchan admits that it sold military-style money belts bearing the Nazi swastika at its Polish stores, in what it calls an “oversight.”

“Our 2018 product offerings did indeed include these money belts from a Polish manufacturer, though our chain wasn’t aware of it,” Auchan Poland spokeswoman Dorota Patejko tells AFP.

“It was an oversight on our part, a situation that we regret,” she says, adding that the group is currently checking stores nationwide and will recall any of the belts left in stock.

“Only one money belt with the Nazi symbol has been located so far. It’s been pulled from shelves.”

An Auchan supermarket in Kraków was discovered selling bags with a Nazi swastika on them, which is illegal in Poland. The French firm says that the Polish supplier printed the symbol on around a tenth of the bags, which have now been withdrawn from sale https://t.co/f46L9ieHk0 pic.twitter.com/DfQtGj8ncv

— Notes from Poland ???????? (@notesfrompoland) April 2, 2019

The Gazeta Krakowska regional daily yesterday reported the case of a woman who bought one of the belts in an Auchan store in the southern city of Krakow.

“It’s sewn out of camouflage fabric and has various bits of text,” the client said, adding that she only recently realized there was a swastika.

“I’m in shock. I’ve been walking around with a purse with a Nazi symbol for weeks,” she said, quoted by the Gazeta Krakowska.

“I never would have thought a supermarket chain would sell something like this.”

— AFP