NEW YORK (NYTIMES) – Amazon on Sunday (Dec 1) removed from its marketplace holiday ornaments, a bottle opener and other products displaying images of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz after the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland shared images of the products on social media, prompting widespread outrage.

In a Twitter post early Sunday morning, the memorial said the ornaments were inappropriate and called the bottle opener “rather disturbing and disrespectful.”

Within hours, the post was shared thousands of times, prompting angry replies and questions about how Amazon vets the products sold through its platforms. At 1:30 pm, the memorial said in another post that Amazon appeared to have removed the ornaments. By Sunday night, none of the products appeared to be available for purchase.

An Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement that the products had been removed and that “all sellers must follow our selling guidelines and those who do not will be subject to action, including potential removal of their account.” It was not immediately clear how long the merchandise was advertised on the online retail platform. Amazon declined to answer further questions.

According to Amazon’s policy on offensive and controversial materials, products “related to human tragedies” are prohibited. The company decides which products are appropriate by considering a “global community of customers and cultural differences and sensitivities.” The policy does not apply to books, music, videos or DVDs.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

The online retail giant has been accused of poorly policing its platforms before.

In July 2018, two nonprofit groups reported that shoppers could buy onesies for babies stamped with alt-right images, Nazi-themed action figures and anti-Semitic books and music. The groups accused Amazon’s policies banning hateful or offensive merchandise of being “weak and inadequately enforced,” allowing hate groups to “generate revenue, propagate their ideas and grow their movements.” Weeks later, under pressure from lawmakers, Amazon said it would not let third-party retailers sell products that feature Nazi and white nationalist symbolism on its platform.

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