A Czech publisher has come under fire after producing a “Personalities of the Third Reich” calendar, featuring a dozen leading Nazis, including Hitler, Himmler, and Heydrich.
Both the Israeli and German embassies in Prague have condemned the 2021 calendar, which contains 12 black and white portraits.
Jan Hamacek, the Czech interior minister, also attacked the calendar calling it “tacky and immoral”.
Published by Naše Vojsko, which says it specializes in publishing materials “on military, historical and technical topics”, the calendar is listed for sale in its website for CZK 499.
The chairman of the Holocaust Victims Fund, Michal Klima, has filed a criminal complaint against the publication of the calendar. The company has breached the law banning the promotion of a movement suppressing human rights and freedoms, Klima said.
Israeli ambassador in Prague Daniel Meron said on Twitter he was “shocked and disgusted by such a calendar”.
I am shocked and disgusted that such a calendar, with images of Nazi war criminals, is being sold https://t.co/KhwCOuFJWF
— Daniel Meron (@AmbMeron) May 25, 2020
Germany’s ambassador to the Czech Republic Christoph Israng added on Twitter that “I cannot understand that someone makes, sells or buys such trash”
Products that glorify the worst criminals in human history are unbearable. I cannot understand that someone makes, sells or buys such trash. I am glad that a discussion has arisen in ?? that has suffered so much from the Nazis as to whether you want to tolerate this any further. https://t.co/rHkYUU32ZQ
— Christoph Israng (@velvyslanec_SRN) May 25, 2020
In 2019, Naše vojsko started to sell popular mugs featuring Heydrich, Hitler, Eichmann, Goebbels, Göring and Himmler. When asked about the product line by journalists, Naše vojsko director and owner Emerich Drtina said that “the offer of products through our e-shop is influenced by customer demand” and that what are being sold are “collector’s items”.
