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Note: The Yiddish words meaning “to apologize” are “betn mekhile.”
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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The headlines read:
“Yellow-Star Shirt Withdrawn”
“Zara Apologizes For Pajamas That Look Just Like a Concentration Camp Uniform”
“ZARA apologizes, says yellow star shirts will be ‘exterminated’”
Fashion giant (“riz”), Zara, pulled a children’s shirt (“hemd”) from its stores after customers began to complain (“bakhlogn zikh”/”kvetshn”) that the striped pajama (“pizhame”) top with the yellow star resembled Holocaust prison (“turme”) garb.
The retailer, owned by the Spanish giant Inditex, flooded twitter on 8/27/14 with multilingual apologies. They said that the garment (“dos malbush”) was modeled in Cowboy Sheriff of the Old West, not the uniform Nazis forced Jews to wear in World War II concentration camps.
Zara ran into problems before. In 2007, the company withdrew a $78 handbag after a woman in Kent, England, complained that it was embroidered with Hindu and Buddhist symbols that resemble swastikas. The bags were produced in India. Zara has also been accused of racism for selling T-shirts with the slogan, “White is the new black.”
The backlash was swift; over 22 million fans posted comments lambasting the company for its insensitivity.
One Facebook user wrote, “After your concentration camp tee shirt I was wondering when your ZYKLON B perfume (“parfum”) was coming out? Others wrote that they would never (“keyn mol nit”) EVER (“ven es iz”) buy any of their products again.
In a tweet, John Shepard wrote, “This same company put out a handbag with swastikas. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, third time...well, we shall see.”
Abraham H. Foxman (ADL), a holocaust survivor, said, “The fact that this keeps happening shows that there is a serious (“ehrnst”) need for education about the Holocaust and the history of anti-Semitism.”
Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority said that the shirt was insensitive and we’re glad they [Zara] took action. Zara says that the items will be destroyed.
Ken Berwitz wrote, “And its [Zara] people are either idiots,
anti-Semites, or both.”
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MARJORIE WOLFE’S COMMENTS TO ZARA:
“Shem zikh in dayn vaytn haldz.” (You should be ashamed of yourself.
You should be ashamed to the bottom of your throat.)
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