(KGTV) - A Halloween costume retailer pulled an Anne Frank costume from its online shop this week after receiving criticism social media.
HalloweenCostumes.com offered the costume, described as a blue, button-up dress "reminiscent of the kinds of clothing that might be worn by a young girl during WWII," until Sunday when it was pulled.
The costume also describes Frank, a Jewish teenager who chronicled the atrocities of the Nazi regime in a dairy, as a World War II hero and an "inspiration to us all."
Totally speechless. Just been shown this ad for an Anne Frank costume for Halloween. @AnneFrankCenter you might want to have a word pic.twitter.com/mu0t4lvY62
— Jude Habib (@JudeHabib) October 15, 2017
Yeah this seems super uncool. You seen this @carlosgeADL ? pic.twitter.com/uhKS3g9b2J
— Jerod MacDonald-Evoy (@JerodMacEvoy) October 15, 2017
The costume was met with instant criticism. The Anti-Defamation League tweeted, "hard to see how this offensive idea made it this far, but thankfully this costume has been removed from the market."
ADL's St. Louis branch added, "We learn from Anne Frank's life and death to honor her & prevent future atrocity. We don't exploit her."
Hard to see how this offensive idea made it this far, but thankfully this costume has been removed from the market: https://t.co/pZQM6T7NmV
— ADL (@ADL_National) October 16, 2017
We learn from Anne Frank's life and death to honor her & prevent future atrocity. We don't exploit her. @AnneFrankCenter @EchoesReflect https://t.co/ePrmoV0OWW
— ADL St. Louis (@ADLStLouis) October 16, 2017
Ross Smith, a public relations specialist with Fun.com, which owns HalloweenCostumes.com, issued a statement on Twitter apologizing for the costume and saying the company sells 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," Smith wrote. "We apologize for any offense it has caused, as that's never our intention."
— Ross Walker Smith ? (@RossWalkerSmith) October 16, 2017
However, social media users have reported the costume is still making rounds on the internet under different names such as "Child's World War II girl costume" or "evacuee costume."
