Anne Frank Halloween Costume Sparks Internet Controversy

Jenna Amatulli
Updated

A costume in the likeness of Holocaust victim Anne Frank has received so much backlash that at least one online retailer has pulled it from its website.

The costume, on sale at HalloweenCostumes.com, featured a cheery young girl wearing a World War II-era dress, beret and bag. Twitter users picked up on the costume and quickly expressed their anger about it.

Carlos Galindo-Elvira, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Arizona office, summed up a lot of people’s feelings:

For those unfamiliar with her story, Anne Frank was a 15-year-old German teenager who hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam during World War II and wrote a diary about her experiences in hiding. After being discovered by the Gestapo, Anne and her family were split up. In October 1944, she, along with her sister Margot, was taken to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Anne nearly survived the war, but succumbed to typhus sometime in March 1945. Bergen-Belsen was liberated by British troops the next month. Anne’s diary, “The Diary of a Young Girl,” was published posthumously.

(Photo: Getty Images)
(Photo: Getty Images)

The costume has since been pulled from the Fun.com-run website. Ross Walker Smith, a spokesman for the site, tweeted on Sunday that while the costume had been removed, the company sells costumes for “many uses outside of the Halloween season, such as school projects and plays.’’

He added: “We apologize for any offense it has caused, as that’s never our intention.”

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

A quick Google search reveals that the costume, and many others like it, are sold at other retailers online. One description for the same costume on CandyAppleCostumes.com says it “was designed by a British company to represent the British children who were evacuated from London to the countryside during World War II, like the Pevensie children in the Narnia books.”

Also on HuffPost

Stylish women (C) look to horses, 29 January 1939

<p>Stylish women look at&nbsp;horses on January 29,1939 at&nbsp;Vincennes race course, a few months before the beginning of World War II.&nbsp;</p>

Stylish women look at horses on January 29,1939 at Vincennes race course, a few months before the beginning of World War II. 

German Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler

<p>German Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler informs Czech President Emil Hacha of the imminent German invasion of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939 in Berlin.&nbsp;</p>

German Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler informs Czech President Emil Hacha of the imminent German invasion of Czechoslovakia on March 15, 1939 in Berlin. 

A picture dated 1939 shows German Nazi

<p>A picture dated 1939 shows German Nazi Chancellor and dictator Adolf Hitler with his companion Eva Braun talking to a baby held by a nun. AFP/Getty Images</p>

A picture dated 1939 shows German Nazi Chancellor and dictator Adolf Hitler with his companion Eva Braun talking to a baby held by a nun. AFP/Getty Images

Picture dated on September 1939 shows German

<p>Picture dated September 1939 shows German troops entering Poland after a 'blitzkrieg' (lightning war) which swept into Poland on September 1, 1939.&nbsp;</p>

Picture dated September 1939 shows German troops entering Poland after a 'blitzkrieg' (lightning war) which swept into Poland on September 1, 1939. 

During german air raids on open belgium towns,this

During German air raids on open Belgium towns, this picture shows refugees leaving the city during the bombing of the town May 19, 1940. AFP/Getty Images
During German air raids on open Belgium towns, this picture shows refugees leaving the city during the bombing of the town May 19, 1940. AFP/Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth (R) chats with a girl

<p>Queen Elizabeth chats with a girl on April 18, 1940 during&nbsp;visit to an ammunition factory somewhere in Midlands.</p>

Queen Elizabeth chats with a girl on April 18, 1940 during visit to an ammunition factory somewhere in Midlands.

Two young Dutch refugee girls arrive

<p>Two young Dutch refugee girls arrive in London by train on May 19, 1940 after fleeing the German Army offensive during WWII.&nbsp;</p>

Two young Dutch refugee girls arrive in London by train on May 19, 1940 after fleeing the German Army offensive during WWII. 

This file picture taken on August 25, 1944

<p>This file picture taken on August 25,1944 shows people gathering around a tank from French General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division near Notre-Dame in Paris.</p>

This file picture taken on August 25,1944 shows people gathering around a tank from French General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division near Notre-Dame in Paris.

US-born singer-entertainer poses during World War

<p>U.S.-born singer-entertainer Jospehine Baker poses during World War II in an undisclosed location in France as a sublieutenant in the Women's Auxiliary of the French Air Force.&nbsp;</p>

U.S.-born singer-entertainer Jospehine Baker poses during World War II in an undisclosed location in France as a sublieutenant in the Women's Auxiliary of the French Air Force. 

George Herbert Walker Bush is pictured in the cockpit

<p>George Herbert Walker Bush is pictured in the cockpit of his TBM Avenger during World War II.</p>

George Herbert Walker Bush is pictured in the cockpit of his TBM Avenger during World War II.

US-born singer-entertainer Josephine Baker poses

<p>US-born singer-entertainer Josephine Baker poses in France during World War II with unidentified children.</p>

US-born singer-entertainer Josephine Baker poses in France during World War II with unidentified children.

Photo shows the house where Anne Frank

<p>Photo shows the house where Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam and where she hid with her parents to escape from Nazis between June 1942 and August 4, 1944.&nbsp;</p>

Photo shows the house where Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam and where she hid with her parents to escape from Nazis between June 1942 and August 4, 1944. 

A young French girl clings to her mother

<p>A young French girl clings to her mother in May 1940 as French civilians flee the German Army offensive in the north of France during World War II.&nbsp;</p>

A young French girl clings to her mother in May 1940 as French civilians flee the German Army offensive in the north of France during World War II. 

Charles de Gaulle (C)

<p>Charles de Gaulle (C), Chief of the French Free Forces, inspects the French colonial troops during his visit of a military base in Great Britain on January 24, 1941 during World War II.&nbsp;</p>

Charles de Gaulle (C), Chief of the French Free Forces, inspects the French colonial troops during his visit of a military base in Great Britain on January 24, 1941 during World War II. 

Picture taken in 1942

<p>Picture taken in 1942 of Soviet soldiers during the battle of Volgograd.&nbsp;</p>

Picture taken in 1942 of Soviet soldiers during the battle of Volgograd. 

<p>Operating a hand drill at Vultee-Nashville, a woman works on a "Vengeance" dive bomber.</p>

Operating a hand drill at Vultee-Nashville, a woman works on a "Vengeance" dive bomber.

<p>Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies.</p>

Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.