The latest Halloween costume to be pulled from the market after generating backlash on social media is a children’s Anne Frank costume. The New York Post reports that the costume featured “a beret, navy shirtwaist-style dress with buttons, a felt bag and ‘felt destination tag sewn to the dress collar.’”
A description of the costume on online retailer halloweencostumes.com said: “Now, your child can play the role of a World War II hero with this girls World War II costume. It comes with a blue button up dress, reminiscent of the kind of clothing that might be worn by a young girl during WWII.”
The Post adds: “The site also described Frank — the German-born girl who penned a diary of her harrowing experience during the Holocaust — as an ‘inspiration to us all,’ adding that ‘we can always learn from the struggles of history.’”
Twitter users soon noticed the costume and went into a frenzy.
One user tweeted: “Those who thought up or greenlit the selling of an #annefrank costume on @funcostumes should receive some basic training in humanity.”
Carlos Galindo Elvira, a regional director for Arizona’s Anti-Defamation League, tweeted: “We should not trivialize her memory as a costume.”
A spokesman for the company that runs the website apologized and noted: “We sell costumes not only for Halloween but for many uses outside of the Halloween season, such as school projects and plays. We offer several types of historically accurate costumes — from prominent figures to political figures to television characters.”
Anne Frank costume (Twitter)
Whoever came up with this idea couldn’t blow their nose if their brains were dynamite.