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Urban Outfitters under fire for selling tapestry resembling gay Holocaust garb

Urban Outfitters under fire for selling tapestry resembling gay Holocaust garb

Urban Outfitters has come under fire for selling a line of Nazi-reminiscent tapestries resembling garments worn by gay men in Hitler’s concentration camps.

A tapestry being sold by Urban Outfitters.
A tapestry being sold by Urban Outfitters.

“Whether intentional or not, this gray and white striped pattern and pink triangle combination is deeply offensive and should not be mainstreamed into popular culture,” said Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization fighting anti-Semitism.

“We urge Urban Outfitters to immediately remove the product eerily reminiscent of clothing forced upon the victims of the Holocaust from their stores and online,” said Foxman, in a statement.

In 2014, the retailer apologized for selling a Kent State University sweatshirt decorated with pink splotches. Critics charged it was reminiscent of the 1970 confrontation on the campus between the National Guard and protesters that left four students dead.

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In 2012, the company offered a t-shirt containing the yellow Star of David symbol that resembled garments Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Europe.

“Urban Outfitters has seized yet again on imagery of the Holocaust, one of the most abhorrent chapters in world history, in an appalling effort to attract attention,” said Fred Sainz, Vice President for Communications at HRC, in a statement. “This is an affront to LGBT people, Holocaust survivors, their families, and anyone with an ounce of humanity.”

Urban Outfitters has not immediately responded to the criticism.

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