{"id":95803,"date":"2026-10-01T18:36:59","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T23:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=95803"},"modified":"2026-10-02T16:27:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T21:27:01","slug":"zara-removes-halloween-costume-likened-to-concentration-camp-uniform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/zara-removes-halloween-costume-likened-to-concentration-camp-uniform\/","title":{"rendered":"Zara removes Halloween costume likened to concentration camp uniform\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By GABE KAHN<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014&nbsp;Spanish fashion retailer Zara removed a children\u2019s Halloween costume from its website on Wednesday after social media users noted that the gray-and-blue striped outfit resembled prison garb worn by inmates in Nazi concentration camps.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Zara-261001.avif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-95804\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Zara-261001.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\"><\/a>Zara described the ensemble as \u201cKids costume featuring vertical stripes with decorative topstitching, a lapel flower and a distressed effect. Includes a cardigan and shorts. Gray \/ Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Zara has listed this costume for kids on their website, unmistakably resembling a Holocaust prison outfit. <\/p>\n<p>It has since been removed from their site. But somebody designed this, approved it, and posted it online. <\/p>\n<p>How could so many people not realize how deeply offensive this\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jhoDim5dRF\">pic.twitter.com\/jhoDim5dRF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/HenMazzig\/status\/2105315537257480477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The post was visible via a Google search that continued to display an indexed version of the Zara product page after the listing itself had been removed.<\/p>\n<p>The costume resembles the suit worn by Michael Keaton\u2019s title character in the 1988 horror-comedy \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d and its 2024 sequel, \u201cBeetlejuice Beetlejuice.\u201d Even so, social media users said the vertical stripes and shiny crisscrosses, which some media outlets described as \u201cfake stitched scars,\u201d resembled concentration camp uniforms and the barbed wire visible in many World War II photos.<\/p>\n<p>Priced at $59.90 in the U.S., according to another indexed version of the listing, the costume drew criticism online in Europe on Tuesday. It gained wider attention Wednesday after Israeli journalist Dov Gil-Har, activist Hen Mazzig and others shared images of it on X.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The listing was no longer accessible by Wednesday afternoon. It was unclear exactly when Zara removed it. No reason was given for its removal, and Zara has not made any public statements regarding the controversy, nor has it responded to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency\u2019s request for comment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One Instagram commenter wrote \u201c@zara how many levels of approval did this go though (sic)? Who is working for you?\u201d A Facebook user said \u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be a groom costume. It does somewhat resemble a (sic) Auschwitz uniform. With all the anti-semitism on the rise I am not surprised.\u201d Another Instagram user asked, \u201cWhat were they claiming it was meant to be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zara has in the past faced similar controversies over clothing that evoked Nazi or Holocaust imagery. In 2007, it withdrew a handbag from its stores after a customer discovered a swastika embroidered on it; Inditex, Zara\u2019s parent company, said the symbol had not appeared on the design Zara had approved.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In 2014 Zara apologized for selling a blue-and-white-striped shirt with six-pointed yellow-star badges on the chest. The Zara Israel website identified it as a \u201cstriped sheriff t-shirt\u201d and the word sheriff was cut out in small letters on the star. The likeness to concentration camp uniforms and the yellow Star of David badges Jews were forced to wear under Nazi rule led Zara to stop selling the shirts and destroy the remaining inventory.<\/p>\n<p>When reached for comment, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which represents Holocaust survivors in compensation negotiations, said the repeated incidents underscore the need for Holocaust education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not the first time this has happened and it once again makes abundantly clear: The glaring absence of Holocaust knowledge is pervasive,\u201d Gideon Taylor, Claims Conference president, wrote in an email to JTA. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t take the risk of a Shoah survivor opening their door and seeing children that look like they are in concentration camp uniforms for us to see where we have to do better. This should serve as a message to us all of why Holocaust education is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Zara%20removes%20Halloween%20costume%20likened%20to%20concentration%20camp%20uniform%C2%A0\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":95804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[8790,8795,8788,2739,5920],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95803"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95805,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95803\/revisions\/95805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}