Germany’s ambassador Christoph Israng posted a photo of a Hitler-like rubber mask displayed in Prague at a souvenir shop, asking why such “trash” is out on the streets.
“The Czechs suffered so much under the Nazi regime. Why is such trash sold in the center of Prague now?” Ambassador Christoph Israng tweeted on Friday, without naming the shop.
??Češi za nacistického režimu tolik trpěli. Proč se teď v centru Prahy prodává takový odpad???Die Tschechen haben so unter den Nationalsozialisten gelitten. Warum wird solcher Schund mitten in Prag verkauft? pic.twitter.com/30cED6aLyI
— Christoph Israng (@velvyslanec_SRN) November 1, 2019
Czech Interior Minister Jan Hamacek soon weighed in, informing the ambassador that the police were looking into the matter.
Israeli ambassador Daniel Meron also weighed in on Twitter, condemning the masks as an “affront to Holocaust survivors.”
“80 years after beginning of WW2 and 75 years after the Liberation of Auschwitz, we should join forces to fight such spread of extremism and hatred,” Meron said, thanking Israng for “raising attention.”
The sale of such costumes is an affront to Holocaust survivors and their memory. 80 years after beginning of WW2 and 75 years after the Liberation of Auschwitz, we should join forces to fight such spread of extremism and hatred. Thank you for raising attention
— Daniel Meron (@AmbMeron) November 1, 2019
Propagating ideology aimed at suppressing human rights is punishable in the Czech Republic.
Up to 260,000 Czech Jews are estimated to have been killed in the Holocaust, after Nazi Germany annexed the Czech border region of Sudetenland in 1938, in the lead up to the World War II.
