Nazis & Irony in the E. Village
Apparently, the resurgence in popularity of Nazi-themed items is not an exclusively German phenomenon. It seems to have taken off in New York City as well, specifically in the E. Village.
The free daily amNew York, one of those papers they hand out at the subway stations in the morning, ran a full-page headline story yesterday that blared, "Hateful Hobby: New York City store sells Nazi dolls, T-shirts, and even swastika earrings."
The story (by Justin rocket Silverman, amNew York staff writer) is not available elsewhere online and is rather priceless, so here it is, in full:
"They are made to look historically accurate, down to the leather of their boots and swastikas on their arms, but the life-like Nazi dolls being sold in stores around the city have critics wondering just who would think a miniature SS officer is a cool toy.
'It is absolutely sick. I'm just beyond being able to articulate the sickness of that how insulting it is,' state Assemblyman Dov Hikind from Brooklyn told amNew York. 'That is the symbol of the worst hate in history. That symbol is responsible for six million Jews slaughtered by the Nazis.'
The dolls are manufactured in limited editions by Staten Island-based In The Past Toys, which also makes a life-like Fidel Castro doll, and marketed to history buffs and collectors.
But such collectors don't typically shop at hipster clothing stores like Search & Destroy on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, where a number of little Nazis line a glass display case.
Panya Ongkeo, co-owner of Search & Destroy, told amNew York that one customer recently flew into a rage when he saw the swastika-clad toys and almost shattered the display case.
Ongkeo said he purposely prices the dolls high, between $120 and $180, in order to discourage causal buyers from purchasing them. He said they are part of the deviant decorations that the store uses to atract customers to its races of used clothing and shoes. Search & Destroy also displays T-shirts with Nazi symbols and pairs of swastika earrings.
'Anyone that does business on this block understands that you have to make things a little weird in order to get people into your store,' said Ongkeo. 'It's a part of marketing.'
For Assemblyman Hikind, such a marketing strategy is unacceptable for any store-owner. 'If I wasn't leaving for Israel tonight, I'd personally go there and smash the guy's head in. You can quote me on that,' he said.
Hikind is heading to Israel with a group of 150 New York-area Jews who oppose the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. They were joined during a rally in Central Park yesterday by Israeli politician Effie Eitam.
'Nothing, nowhere can legitimize the use of the Nazi symbol,'' Eitam told amNew York.
Ongkeo of Search & Destroy pointed out that the store rents space from a Jewish landlord, who understands that selling Nazi toys does not make a person a Nazi himself. 'We're Oriental, we have yellow skin, how can we be Nazis?' asked Ongkeo.
Just last year, Ohio-based Plan B Toys bowed to criticism and stopped selling historically accurate toys portraying the SS soldiers who guarded Hitler's concentration camps."
Like I said, priceless. I'm not sure which I find more deeply ironic: the state Assemblyman offering to bash the store owner's head in, or the store owner's protestation of innocence based on being 'Oriental' and having 'yellow skin.' Tough call.
The free daily amNew York, one of those papers they hand out at the subway stations in the morning, ran a full-page headline story yesterday that blared, "Hateful Hobby: New York City store sells Nazi dolls, T-shirts, and even swastika earrings."
The story (by Justin rocket Silverman, amNew York staff writer) is not available elsewhere online and is rather priceless, so here it is, in full:
"They are made to look historically accurate, down to the leather of their boots and swastikas on their arms, but the life-like Nazi dolls being sold in stores around the city have critics wondering just who would think a miniature SS officer is a cool toy.
'It is absolutely sick. I'm just beyond being able to articulate the sickness of that how insulting it is,' state Assemblyman Dov Hikind from Brooklyn told amNew York. 'That is the symbol of the worst hate in history. That symbol is responsible for six million Jews slaughtered by the Nazis.'
The dolls are manufactured in limited editions by Staten Island-based In The Past Toys, which also makes a life-like Fidel Castro doll, and marketed to history buffs and collectors.
But such collectors don't typically shop at hipster clothing stores like Search & Destroy on St. Mark's Place in the East Village, where a number of little Nazis line a glass display case.
Panya Ongkeo, co-owner of Search & Destroy, told amNew York that one customer recently flew into a rage when he saw the swastika-clad toys and almost shattered the display case.
Ongkeo said he purposely prices the dolls high, between $120 and $180, in order to discourage causal buyers from purchasing them. He said they are part of the deviant decorations that the store uses to atract customers to its races of used clothing and shoes. Search & Destroy also displays T-shirts with Nazi symbols and pairs of swastika earrings.
'Anyone that does business on this block understands that you have to make things a little weird in order to get people into your store,' said Ongkeo. 'It's a part of marketing.'
For Assemblyman Hikind, such a marketing strategy is unacceptable for any store-owner. 'If I wasn't leaving for Israel tonight, I'd personally go there and smash the guy's head in. You can quote me on that,' he said.
Hikind is heading to Israel with a group of 150 New York-area Jews who oppose the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. They were joined during a rally in Central Park yesterday by Israeli politician Effie Eitam.
'Nothing, nowhere can legitimize the use of the Nazi symbol,'' Eitam told amNew York.
Ongkeo of Search & Destroy pointed out that the store rents space from a Jewish landlord, who understands that selling Nazi toys does not make a person a Nazi himself. 'We're Oriental, we have yellow skin, how can we be Nazis?' asked Ongkeo.
Just last year, Ohio-based Plan B Toys bowed to criticism and stopped selling historically accurate toys portraying the SS soldiers who guarded Hitler's concentration camps."
Like I said, priceless. I'm not sure which I find more deeply ironic: the state Assemblyman offering to bash the store owner's head in, or the store owner's protestation of innocence based on being 'Oriental' and having 'yellow skin.' Tough call.
posted by Jessie Daniels at
5:04 AM
