Clothing company Teespring has faced a massive backlash after releasing a range of clothing that tried to use the swastika to promote the LGBT+ community.
The designer of the shirts, KA Design, stated that they wanted to remove the negative connotations that became associated with the swastika when it was used as a symbol by the Nazi party.
'They took the swastika, rotated it by 45 degrees, and turned it into hatred, and turned it into fear, and turned it into war, and turned it into racism, and turned it into power. They stigmatised the swastika forever.
'The swastika is coming back, together with peace, together with love, together with respect, together with freedom. Introducing the new swastika.'
A spokesperson for Teespring stated that they wanted to 'share the beauty' of the swastika. 'We really like the symbol in its shape and aesthetics, and we would love to share the beauty of this symbol detached from the hatred associated with it.'
After the initial backlash Teesping has removed the shirts from sale.
'This morning it came to our attention that a user created a number of designs on Teespring that included a swastika, a hate symbol that we do not allow on Teespring.' They said in a statement following the removal. 'As soon as the design was discovered, it was removed from the site.'
The chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Dr Dvir Abramovich, has spoken out about the matter to the media, condemning both the clothing line and the company for selling it.
'I'm outraged and shocked that any company would seek to profit from selling such reprehensible items. The swastika does not represent the LGBTI community, whose members were the victims of Hitler's evil regime. And no, it cannot be rebranded as a symbol of peace.
'KA's naive, and in many ways, selfish attitude shows a staggering lack of concern for the feelings of those who survived the Holocaust and those who lost relatives to the monstrous deeds of the Third Reich.'
Whilst the vast majority of those killed during the Holocaust were Jewish, the LGBT+ community were amongst several minority groups targeted by the Nazis, with thousands imprisoned and killed in concentration camps. Many of those who were liberated from Nazi facilities were later re-arrested and imprisoned by the Allied Nations based upon evidence of their homosexuality kept by the Nazis.
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Nazis - NOT Nazi's !! Nazis is the plural of Nazi, Nazi's means something belonging to a Nazi, or attributable to a Nazi. Here's a good example of the difference: "The Nazis didn't set much store by an individual Nazi's life".
ReplyDeleteI also think it wrong to allow a symbol to be forever tainted, merely because it was used at one point in history for something it is now fashionable to condemn. The symbol is way older than the 1930s, going back millennia. Do not allow it to be devalued because of a failed idealist's attempt to cleanse his nation.. :D