'Really Westfield?' Shopper spots offensive item in window display
A face mask with Nazi symbols on display in the window at a Sydney store has left people disgusted and prompted shopping centre management to speak to the retailer.
Images began circulating on social media of a face mask displayed at a store at Westfield Miranda, in the Sutherland Shire, and while from a distance it may look in innocuous, the mask actually boasts swastikas and the Nazi eagle.
"So, this morning at @westfieldmiranda I walked past this store and admired their minimalist window display of mannequins wearing only masks... Until I looked a little closer and realised the mask fabric features the symbol of the Nazi Party!" one woman said on Instagram.
"Really Westfield? Sort it out."
The pictures the woman shared to Instagram started circulating on other social media platforms.
"So Westfield Miranda, what the hell?" someone questioned on Facebook.
"Wow, this is next level creepy," another person remarked.
"And this is why we need to keep educating people on history, so they can think critically when they see iconography like this," another said.
Westfield Miranda did respond to the photos shared on social media and said the centre was aware of the masks with hate symbols.
"As soon as the centre was made aware, the team spoke with the retailer who expressed it was a genuine mistake," Westfield Miranda said in a statement to Yahoo News Australia.
"The mask was immediately removed from display and will not be available for sale."
While the swastika is an ancient symbol tied to several religions and is associated with good fortune, according to the Anti Defamation League (ADL), since 1945 it has been widely recognised as a hate symbol.
“Since 1945, the swastika has served as the most significant and notorious of hate symbols, anti-Semitism and white supremacy for most of the world outside of Asia,” ADL explains
“Its display is prohibited in Germany and some other countries, leading some right-wing extremists to devise variants or alternatives to the swastika that would evoke a similar effect.”
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