Anti-Semitic Souvenirs Found in Holiday Inn, Hilton Hotels in Moscow
Jennifer Billock May 21, 2015
A Holiday Inn and a Hilton in Moscow are possibly facing legal action after selling anti-Semitic items.
A man is urging legal action after finding several offensive anti-Semitic and Nazi-related items in the Holiday Inn and Hilton hotels in Moscow, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The controversial items were spotted in the gift shops of each hotel by Dr. Shimon Samuels, director for international relations at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He was in Moscow for a conference during the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
He found a set of matryoshka dolls, Russian nesting dolls, with stereotypical depictions of orthodox Jews painted on them — big noses and payot included. He also encountered a chess set that faced off Joseph Stalin and the Red Army, and Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Wehrmacht army. Samuels said that a Russian veteran victory ribbon was on display nearby.
“Born in London, I have always acknowledged the role of the Red Army on the Eastern Front in preventing a Nazi invasion of Great Britain,” Samuels wrote in a statement. “Thereby, your people’s sacrifice contributed to the survival of British Jews from destruction in the Holocaust – only 50 kilometers away on the European continent.”
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, had recently outlawed Nazi imagery. The Wiesenthal Center has suggested that all the offensive items be confiscated and called their sale “an insult to every Allied veteran and victim of World War II and also to the Russian tradition of chess excellence.”
[Photos: The Jerusalem Post]
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If you're not offended occasionally, you're not living in a free society.
Totally agree with the NJUPINTHEAIR's comment. There's nothing even remotely offensive about these souvenirs. Indeed publishing such schlock news items can be a distraction from real bigotry that exists in the world.
This guy should lighten up. As a Jew, I can say that his "offense" with respect to the chess set is ridiculous, it is a given fact that Hitler invaded the Soviet Union and that Stalin was its war time leader. That both historical figures are portrayed as the King for each side is correct, although not absolute monarchs, they certainly were absolute dictators. With respect to the nesting dolls, I have seen similar portrayals of Jews in art galleries that cater to Jewish clients as well as Judaica stores. One person's offensive stereotype is another's caricature. Some time ago, however, a Holiday Inn/IHG branded hotel in St. Petersburg Russia hosted a gathering of Neo-Nazi types for some sort of conference. It was unclear whether the hotel new of the identity of the group sponsoring that gathering, but that is a far more serious issue than the one presented. In addition, it is common knowledge that the current CEO of IHG is Richard Solomons, is an English Jew and although anti-Semitic incidents have spiked recently in Europe, this complainant does a disservice to those circumstances and trivializes the entire issue when measured against the subject controversy.