Saturday, April 21, 2007
Wal-Mart’s love of selling Nazi SS skull t-shirts will not die
The Consumerist posted about a new Nazi SS skull t-shirt sighting at an Ohio area Wal-Mart. It’s been 22 weeks now since I first found them at my local Wal-Mart and posted something about it. Since then, Wal-Mart has issued apology after apology along with promises to remove the offending shirts as quickly as they can.
They then proceed to continue selling the shirts as though nothing ever happened.
This is just too ridiculous. Even for Wal-Mart. Either they want to sell Nazi SS skull t-shirts to kids or they don’t. They need to make up their mind. I realize that Wal-Mart likes to say one thing and do another when it comes to how they treat their employees, but this is about selling a t-shirt with an image worn by Nazi SS concentration camp guards at Auschwitz. Claiming that they offer affordable health insurance to their employees even though they don’t is not the same thing as claiming that they don’t want to sell Nazi SS merchandise even though they seemingly do.
I realize they are used to lying about stuff. They shouldn’t lie about this.
I noticed that this story made it’s way to digg again. A lot of people are commenting on this issue as though it’s something new. Some people are making the same lame retarded arguments that this is not a Nazi SS skull image even though it is an exact copy. They claim it’s just a skull. I used to get emails every day from people saying all sorts of things. Right now their are digg users arguing about Wal-Mart selling these t-shirts as though it wasn’t already argued to death last year on digg. Are these people all new digg users? Why didn’t any of these digg users making these comments last year? Not to say other digg users didn’t try to make similar flawed arguments.
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Does that shirt say “Since 1978″? Write them up for being forty years off the mark on disturbing symbol origin as well as the general concept of selling SS iconography as a fashion statement.
Regarding Wal-Mart’s desire to sell Nazi t-shirts to kids, I would rather attribute it to ignorance — albeit shameful ignorance — than some kind of evil commerce-at-any-cost impulse. As Nazi iconography goes, the Totenkopf is relatively obscure, especially when compared to the twin lightning bolts or the swastika. I dimly recall you saying in the past that you were not a history buff, but your understanding of the given symbol’s place in history is at least somewhat exceptional. I suspect that Wal-Mart is merely taking advantage of the Caribbean pirate memorabilia fad, which features the skull-and-crossed-bones motif prominently, and dismissing the connection with the SS as negligible because — if my guess is anywhere near the truth — their knowledge of Nazi insignia begins and ends with the swastika.
According to the (Jewish) Anti-Defamation League, misuse of Nazi imagery is not new to Wal-Mart. I suspect that they simply do not know better.
Today I read Rick’s original post on this (9th Nov 2006) and all of the 83 comments which followed.
Having weighed it up, I have to side with Rick on this. These are the main points of argument:
1. The skull insignia in question is specific to the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf (”Death’s Head” division). Arguments relating to any other skull insignia (or the swastika) are not relevant.
2. The Totenkopfdivision was originally formed with concentration camp guards but by 1943 most of those had been replaced with regular soldiers. Nevertheless, the division had a reputation for being ruthless because of its origins and certain War Crimes it was involved in earlier in the war.
3. I am no historian but I was already aware that such a unit had existed also of their “Death’s Head” insignia. I would call that “general knowledge” - like knowing what the “hammer and sickle” or the “stars and bars” signify. Of course “general knowledge” varies.
4. Personally, I am not offended by it because I lost no relatives in WWII nor do I belong to any of the groups which were included in the Final Solution. However, given that WWII is still within living memory then yes, this specific “logo” is not acceptable. It’s not big, it’s not clever and it’s not cool.
5. Most likely, the t-shirt designer did not use the image knowingly. However, that’s no excuse for Wal-Mart to keep the shirt on sale after the “mistake” has been pointed out to them. Maybe, whatever they claim, they just aren’t all that bothered about it.
Maybe 50 years from now the “Death’s Head” insignia will have lost any cultural significance - it will just be a symbol from history. Until then I’m keeping my t-shirt in a bottom drawer.
though i am against all nazi iconography used in modern apparel, most the time artists don’t even realize what they are using. in that case, all those west coast choppers shirts with the iron cross should have been pulled…good work though!
plopculture.blogspot.com
The Nazi punk thing started in 1978, which is what started the Nazi skinhead movement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_punk
The Nazi skinheads is who they market this stuff to. Wallmart is right on the mark with “since 1978″ Apparently they know their Nazis very well.
See my blog at raumfahrer.wordpress.com
I was in Ensenada Mexico recently. I walked into a curio shop and there were flags hanging from the ceiling that looked very much like the Nazi marine battle flag swastikas on it and something that was supposed to be Ku Klux Klan flag with celtic crosses (a white power sign) on it. They also had Totenkopf ash trays and other items such as that. They had a poster of the popular German band Rammstein in the front display, which often use Nazi symbolism in there performances. I’m assuming they sell the stuff to american kids that can’t get it in the US, but Rammstein is also very popular in Mexico. There seems to be a trend among kids to buy Nazi stuff and especially among kids that are fans of bands like Rammstein.
Let wal-mart sell whatever they want to.Or dont you belive in the first amendment.If this post gets pulled,you probably dont.