Nazi replica hat removed from Invercargill shop window

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

A hat featuring a swastika in the window of an Invercargill store.

An Invercargill store owner has removed a hat with a Nazi swastika from a front window position, but Jewish leaders and the Human Rights Commission say the continued sale of such items is deplorable and distressing.

The shop owner said on Monday he had been away on Friday when the World War II German Luftwaffe beret, featuring a swastika, was put in a window display.

He said he was unaware it featured a swastika and removed the hat from the window display on Monday.

He said the hat was a replica that had come from a wholesaler. The primary customers for such items were historical collectors, he said.

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He said he still planned on selling the hat and other WW II-related items.

In a statement, Human Rights Commission Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy slammed the decision to sell such items.

'While they do not fall under the Human Rights Act, the Nazi swastika is an icon of hatred and genocide; it's not a fashion icon,' she said.

'Understanding the horrors of the Holocaust is important if we are to learn from the past. However, selling replica Nazi memorabilia is about making money.'

New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman said selling Nazi memorabilia was not illegal in New Zealand, but that didn't mean it was appropriate.

'It is very disappointing people are making money out of other people's suffering,' he said.

'Many New Zealanders fought and died in overthrowing that regime. Having it [the hat] prominently displayed makes people think this sort of behaviour is acceptable.'

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand director Inge Woolf also condemned the sale of such items.

'The Holocaust Centre of New Zealand obviously finds it deplorable and distressing that people wish to trade, profit from and collect items that represent a regime that espoused race hatred and anti-Semitism,' she said.

'We would doubtless be joined by many New Zealanders that fought against the tyranny of the Nazis and especially those families that lost sons doing so. However this distasteful business is legal. The people concerned should realise that their involvement reflects badly on themselves and the values they hold and refrain from this practice.'

Goodman said the case sounded similar to an incident in Rotorua, where a shop was selling Nazi flags. He said the shop later removed the flags from display.

TradeMe banned the sale of Nazi-related items in 2005. Auction house Dunbar Sloane also banned such items in the late 2000s.