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Wal-Mart is selling Nazi SS skull t-shirts

bentcorner.com — In the Wal-Mart Men's department are t-shirts featuring an exact replica of the Nazi SS "Death's Head" symbol. Specifically, the image used on the divisional emblem of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf.

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  • InsaneMachine, on 10/12/2007, -84/+11I forsee a lawsuit.
    • borninda818, on 10/12/2007, -15/+120I don't.

      I foresee a couple pissed phone calls to Wall-Mart headquarters followed by Wall-Mart executives having the shirt pulled from the shelves.

      Furthermore, what will they sue for? Insensitivity?

      If you don't like the shirt, don't buy it.
    • neutrascrub, on 10/12/2007, -17/+108There is nothing illegal about that...

      Free Speech anyone?
    • Monolith2, on 10/12/2007, -43/+13Sweet, im gonna go buy a cartfull today!
    • nixonrichard, on 10/12/2007, -37/+17They'll pull them off the shelves soon. Definitely buy as many as you can and sell them on ebay . . . just not ebay.de . . . that would be illegal.
    • Monolith2, on 10/12/2007, -35/+13Actually, on closer inspection...

      The guy who wrote this got his comparison image for the skull from wikipedia:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Division_Totenkopf

      And there's no citation listing WHERE that image came from. If you do an image search on google for "deaths head", there are a ton of different variations of the skull and crossbones. There's no way to be certain which ones are original and which are modern interpretations. Unless, of course, someone out there happens to have some period photos with a clear shot of the skull.
    • DDoSAttack, on 10/12/2007, -3/+42"And there's no citation listing WHERE that image came from. If you do an image search on google for "deaths head", there are a ton of different variations of the skull and crossbones. There's no way to be certain which ones are original and which are modern interpretations."

      Your searching for the wrong thing...
      Do a search for "SS-Totenkopfverbände" and you will see that they have a very strong resemblance to that skull on that shirt.

      http://images.google.com/images?svnum=100&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=SS-Totenkopfverb%C3%A4nde&btnG=Search
    • carapi, on 10/12/2007, -36/+6DDos...I did a search like you suggested, and found sites that have an image showing a SOMEHWAT SIMILAR skull, but nothing even close to being the exact replica that this article claims.

      I cannot believe that people still cite Wikipedia, especially for things like this. The image from Wikipedia is simply NOT the image used by the Nazis. Period. Someone moron with a Wikipedia account just assumed it was.
    • taotehue, on 10/12/2007, -2/+29first result from google when i search for SS-Totenkopfverbände
      http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/SScamp/SSHistory.html
      what do you see? The skull.
      I have seen it on WW2 footage personally.

      I don't see what your problem with wiki is. It is a great research tool with an error rate that is similar to a standard encyclopedia. It is a great place to start a search for further information.
    • carapi, on 10/12/2007, -30/+5Yup..I saw that page too. I see a skull too. I do NOT see the image shown on Wikipedia and on the t-shirt at Walmart. I see LOTS of images of a skull, with crcossbones behind it. Are they ALL Nazi symbols now?

      What do I have against Wikipedia? Well, this is a perfect example. That is NOT the Nazi symbol that is shown on that page. It is one of hte many inaccurate things in Wikipedia, which is inevitable since hte masses are stupid.
    • brindon, on 10/12/2007, -30/+7carapi,

      Diggers are fanatical wikipedia users/editors. They treat their "encyclopedia" like its sacred, not the idiotic sprawling blog that it really is. They quote it all the time..sadly.

      Insulting wikipedia is verboten on digg! (say it with a German accent).
    • Revadarth, on 10/12/2007, -4/+24@carapi:

      So you're basically saying that everything only has one symbol?

      The American flag is the only thing that can represent America?

      And even though the swastika had been used by Christians and Hindus before the Nazis took it that that is the one and only thing that can represent a Nazi?

      Also, what source would you prefer to be cited?
    • SportBilly, on 10/12/2007, -34/+6"There is nothing illegal about that...
      Free Speech anyone?"

      Ermmm...It's illegal in the EU and I would've thought so in the US as well. Looks like the dumb ***** just didn't realise what they were selling.

      Nazi symbolism or anything Nazi-esque does not fall under the category of free speech. I think you confuse free speech with anarchy.

    • Revadarth, on 10/12/2007, -29/+10"Ermmm...It's illegal in the EU and I would've thought so in the US as well."

      Europe is the United State's bitch.
    • diggenerate, on 10/12/2007, -10/+30To the above comment...
      I don't know how you folks over in Europe do things but in America we don't punish people for thought crimes. If we do not allow people to express theirs views about a subject then how are we any different from people like Stalin, Hitler, etc... who tried to repress and eliminate all that opposed them? I think that allowing people to express their views however twisted is necessary. Not only will it allow everyone else to know who the perpetrators are, but it is self deprecating to them. A person may be stupid but people generally are smart and able to think for themselves. I think that the laws that are in place in Germany and other countries which prohibit any form of Nazi-ism are ridiculous. Who are they trying to protect? I doubt that anyone will ever be allowed to come to power in any country with ideas such as Hitlers, especially when we have already seen what will happen.

      You are a moron.
    • ThugEsquire, on 10/12/2007, -3/+47"Nazi symbolism or anything Nazi-esque does not fall under the category of free speech. I think you confuse free speech with anarchy." -- SportBilly

      Actually, here in the U.S., it does fall under the category of free speech.

      And the Nazis certainly hated anarchy.
    • SportBilly, on 10/12/2007, -24/+3"I don't know how you folks over in Europe do things but in America we don't punish people for thought crimes"
      "You are a moron."

      Freedom of speech is a global thing, not an American thing. I think you're doing a good job at showing your ignorance here. It's not about freedom of speech, its about persecution and hatred and its just not acceptable in any modern civilized society. I would have thought being the most hated country/race on the planet you'd be able to empathize a bit. Lets say i went out and burned the American flag, a popular symbol of hatred towards Americans. Is that freedom of speech? I've seen it being done and that guy got beaten to a pulp before being slammed in jail.
      • diggenerate, on 05/07/2008, -0/+1I support a persons right to burn the American Flag, but I don't condone it.
    • interrogate, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23"Nazi symbolism or anything Nazi-esque does not fall under the category of free speech. I think you confuse free speech with anarchy."

      What are you talking about? Why wouldn't they fall under free speech? What do they have to do with anarchy at all?
    • SportBilly, on 10/12/2007, -25/+3"What do they have to do with anarchy at all?"

      Anarchy is what you get when people go around doing and saying whatever they want. It's not freedom of speech in the same way that burning your piece of ***** flag is not freedom of speech.
    • dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15"Freedom of speech is a global thing, not an American thing."
      No... It's an American thing. There are plenty of places where it is illegal to say certain things, granted I can't think of any off the top of my head, and most "civilised" places have enough freedom that they can say quite alot before any legal action is taken, leaving them with an effective freedom of speech (with the exception of defamation). I believe it's specifically a part of your constitution, or an amendment thereof.
    • jimbouk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Nazi symbols are not illegal in the EU, although there are some very strict laws in Germany about references to, or symbols of, the Nazi period.

      EU laws generally do not extend to such precise issues as these, which are up to each state to decide upon.
    • Alniner, on 10/12/2007, -16/+21OMG...I went to a local walmart and found this:

      http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/images/skull-crossbones-pirate-fla.jpg

      They support Pirates!!!!!

      And worse yet....

      http://pencenmuseum.com/shop/images/100_0046.JPG

      Canadians!!! They support Canadians...
    • Cthalupa, on 10/12/2007, -3/+20SportBilly, flag burning IS legal in the US.
    • MrSunshine, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3>There is nothing illegal about that...
      >
      >Free Speech anyone?

      See? US citizens sympathize with Neo-Nazis by saying they are entitled to free speech.

    • SportBilly, on 10/12/2007, -21/+5LMAO You guys are ***** pathetic. "In this country we can wear a nazi t-shirt if we want too" ITS A ***** NAZI SYMBOL YOU DUMB *****. Ah yea, freedom of speech, freedom to bomb, freedom to wreak havoc on our planet. You guys think you can just do whatever the ***** you like. Your wakeup call will come....god only knows why the last wake up call hasn't hit home. I think I'll go out and buy that t-shirt of planes hitting the twin towers or the one of people jumping to their deaths....freedom of ***** speech ass holes.
    • jonnyeh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Yes, Nazis are legal in the US:
      http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/strwhe.html

      Just read up on the famous Nazi march in Skokie Illinois in 1977.
    • BarneyXP, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2The point isn't whether Americans have the freedom to wear nazi insignia's or whatever else they feel is theyre constitutional right. How does this reflect on Wal-Mart's business practices I dont care if you feel that you want to wear a nazi symbol or if its your right I refuse to shop at stores that endorse nazism
    • bemenaker, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4Buried, FUHQING LAME

      It's a skull. So it resembles one with a torrid past. It makes no reference to that history. Most people won't even catch it.

      zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    • gnomon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Wal-Mart isn't endorsing Nazism. This has happened before--the people who design their clothes see kids wearing something on the street and try to copy it, thinking it's "hip." This happened a few years back with shirts that said "88". Wal-Mart had no idea "88" meant "Heil Hitler." Settle down.
    • robbclark, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1@borninda818:

      i dont even see that. people dont give *****, as long as they save 50 cents on a tube of toothpaste.
    • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Actually there was just a Nazi march in Germany last week.. it was completely legal as long as they didn't.. kill people.
    • encognito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I wonder if Walmart is selling it for $0.88?
  • sephiroth965, on 10/12/2007, -9/+36The symbol on the shirt is basically identical to the "Death's Head" symbol. This was almost certainly purposely by the designer.
    • atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -4/+40I agree, it's not possible to arive to that by mistake. It's a copy, the only question is if the person knew what he copied.
    • carapi, on 10/12/2007, -24/+3No, again...it is perfectly identical to the symbol that the person who submitted the Wikipedia article CLAIMS is the Death's Head symbol.

      But a simply Google serach reveals that it is NOT that exact a match to the ACTUAL one.
    • schroduggity, on 10/12/2007, -19/+5i'm totally buying one asap. I hope they have them at my walmart.
    • carapi, on 10/12/2007, -19/+6Gotta love Digg where people pointing out facts get buried becuase it does not go in line with the "We hate (insert big business here)" mantra.

      Wikipedia is WRONG, plain and simply. That is not hte symbol. the real one is shown here...

      http://www.scrapbookpages.com/DachauScrapbook/SScamp/SSHistory.html

      The only real similarity is the skull and crossbones. And a skull and crossbones is used all the time.
    • iNcubi, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22I'll say that when a Nazi symbol isn't recognized as a Nazi symbol right away its a good thing. It means that the Nazi era is long gone... Stop giving the power back by "banning" or whatever, it just makes the symbols mean what the Nazis want.
    • megaloid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Surely, some of the people on this thread realize that the German army tankers still use the "Totenkopf" symbol as their official insignia. It's kind of a tasteless holdover from the Nazi era but for whatever reason they still wear it.
    • Knaveswikert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14actually it comes from Prussian culture long before germany was even a unitied germany. so it is a tasteless holdover of prussia. much like most of the songs the nazi's promoted were from the same period of german national awareness awakening.
    • an0nymous, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14I have to say that, in general, (maybe not here) the Nazis were some snappy dressers.
      I know, I know, you hate Nazis. Very principled and courageous of you to take that stand. But for design? Fantastic.
      They were some spiffy looking bad guys.
  • converge, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5Wow.
  • devindotcom, on 10/12/2007, -17/+3Oh dear.
  • unnamedjoe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14This reminds me of a couple of years ago, when I worked for walmart and they had something that looked like a A male organ, and well, I mentioned it to management and soon after it was pulled off the shelf. Evidently no one really noticed it before.
    • nixonrichard, on 10/12/2007, -7/+32Yeah, my girlfriend bought the plunger with that handle . . . I always wondered why it smelled funny.
  • grooviekenn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I thought this comment on the site was interesting:

    "Well, in April of 1978 some 15,000 former members of the Nazi party came out publicly against National Socialism (Read: Thinly veiled Nazism) in a public demonstration."
    • riffic, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21National Socialism isn't thinly veiled, it IS Nazism.
    • postaldave, on 10/12/2007, -30/+6what is with the nazi hating?

      the democrats are a national socialist party and hate jews. maybe they should dump the donkey and go with this image.
    • saifatlast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9Nazi = Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeitspartei (pronounced in German, the National begins with a "Nazi"). Translated word for word, this means National Socialist German Workers Party.

      Just to give some extra weight behind riffic's comment.

      And of course, the inevitable Wikipedia link:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSDAP
    • dacheetah, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2The wikipedia pronunciation of Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei sounds rather ammusing, to someone who speaks only English (and a very small amount of French)
      Almost musical even.
    • VTmruhlin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6My money is on The Turner Diaries being published in 1978.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_Diaries

      It's the book Tim McVeigh was trying to re-enact when he bombed Oklahoma City. Also helped establish the National Alliance, one of the biggest neo-nazi groups in the US.
  • truegodofwar, on 10/12/2007, -16/+22I give walmart kudos for standing up to political correctness and denfending freedom of expression. (or being too stupid to notice)
    • jon1012, on 10/12/2007, -15/+7and I give you kudos for being so stupid and daring to show it.
    • wvdavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@ truegodofwar – “kudos for standing up to political correctness and denfending freedom of expression”?

      Did you know that Wal-Mart won’t sell albums with the “Parental Advisory” label on them? From their web site: “Wal-Mart Stores, Sam's Club and Walmart.com (collectively "Wal-Mart") do not carry recordings designated with the Parental Advisory Label.”

      http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=547092
    • truegodofwar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5just because something is in parenthesis doesn't mean that you shouldn't read it.
    • wvdavis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Lawyers use parenthesis too... they also use spell check (denfending).
  • nizzy1115, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5Someone is going to get fired over this...
  • jraines, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3That's crazy.

    I just keep finding more and more reasons not to go there.
  • chokeyou, on 10/12/2007, -14/+4BFD.
  • Azap, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29Either 1 of 2 things happened,
    1. Some designer found a original looking skull, not knowing the source of the image, no one double checked its historical ramifications, and bang its on the shelves.
    2. There is a secret Nazi conspiracy going on within Wal-mart, and they decided that to further their cause they will subliminally implant Nazi images into the American youths brains...

    I smell "Davinci Code: The Nazi Wal-mart Connection"
    • aMiTnaRain, on 10/12/2007, -13/+7***** what about plagiarism?
    • davecor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I vote for option 1. I bet it was a shoddy cut & paste job. (or the artist is a cynic who is now laughing his ass off)

      But keep this in mind, a company this size doesn't do anything on a whim. This shirt was selected by a buyer who had to show it to a room full of executives for approval. It was also probably run past a focus group or two.

      Expect a lot of finger-pointing and one poor sap to be made the fall-guy.

      Let's hope a review is made before they release those red and black armbands with that crooked Hindu thingy on them.
    • DaveV, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@davecor:

      While it is true that companies the size of WalMart don't do anything on a whim, they are a bit like drunken elephants. They often do things they don't know they are doing.

      It is a good bet that some buyer for WalMart had a t-shirt makers portfolio come across his desk, flipped through it, liked what he saw and bought the entire portfolio.

      I am always hesitant to subscribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetents , ignorance, and/or indifference.
    • willcode4beer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2secret Nazis in Arkansas ?
  • AhronZombi, on 10/12/2007, -15/+6The American Dream only happens when your asleep. But we have lived in the dream world of Hitler for many years now
  • iFrank, on 10/12/2007, -8/+18Yeah, but nobody says anything about the CCCP shirts now ubiquitous among the chic uninformed. Why is Hitler's mass genocide more controversial than Stalin's mass genocide? The USSR is just as inextricably linked with death and terror as Nazi Germany.

    Baffles me every time I see one.
    • felyduw, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18I don't think it's because of Hitler vs Stalin. I believe it's because Nazi symbols turned out to be symbols of racism, hatred and violence whereas USSR symbols didn't.

      We (should) all know that both regimes killed millions of people but there's a substantial difference between the common usage of each symbolism nowadays.
    • JayD16, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I'll agree with felyduw on this one. Although neither symbol is positive Nazi symbols carry a bit more weight.

      You also have to consider what people use Nazi symbols today. ie. Neo-Nazis etc. To the best of my knowledge theres no capitalist hating society withing the US that uses CCCP.
    • JAFFA, on 10/12/2007, -9/+11Agreed!

      And why Hitler is always blamed for WW2 when in fact it was a joint invasion of Poland by both Germany and Stalins Russia. And need i mention the fact that it was Great Britain that actually declared war on Germany. But why not also on Russia? If you're going to war to honour a treaty to protect Poland then you shouldnt be able to pick and choose who you protect Poland from ....
    • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I have never seen anybody in America with CCCP symbol lynching people. Not even the russian mobs.

      There are plenty of stupid Nazi wannbes in America thought.
    • wuxia, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2The reason is because one KILLED the jews and the other (CCCP) WAS the jews. Thats why noone cares.
    • Draracle, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Comparing Nazi symbols with Hilter -- valid. Comparing Soviet symbols with Stalin -- bigoted. Sure he was their leader, and a particularly nasty one -- but he wasn't he only leader of the Soviets. Lenin was a great leader. The CCCP also brings to mind one of the worlds best -- if not the best -- hockey teams in history. To expand the crimes of Stalin to be represented in every CCCP reference is a little ignorant. I surely don't expand the crimes of the USA to every aspect of the USA. Not to mention, there is a growing body of evidence (as old soviet documents are removed from their vaults and research is conducted) that the US grossly exaggerated the crimes of Stalin to sway domestic and foreign opinion. If fact, one study demonstrated how the soviet "concentration camps" had a remarkably low death rate (like 2% -- lower than the national average) in every year except two, those being at the height of WW2. The death rate those years were understandably high, with limited resources and constant German attack -- but the Western political figures used those death rates (like 40%+) to represent ALL the years of soviet death camps -- leading to massively high death rates. I'm not saying Stalin was a good man, I am just saying take what you hear about your enemy with a heavy grain of salt -- there is a good chance your government is lying to you. Propaganda is still a powerful too, and a necessary tool in a democracy.
    • ezweave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Draracle

      Lenin was responsible for many killings, I don't know why revisionists only point to Stalin. Your ignorance of history is astounding. The establishment of a police state and concentration camps was something that Lenin did.

      Go to Brighton Beach and tell the old Russians that Lenin was great.
  • aMiTnaRain, on 10/12/2007, -15/+6i say get over it.

    u dont like it, dont buy it.
  • stoppedcode12, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11yup, that's what happens when you outsource design, fabrication, and manufacturing to third-world countries.
  • wowbagger, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5Cool. I'll pop down and get one tomorrow.
  • Fooluaintblack, on 10/12/2007, -15/+9Props borninda818.

    My response to the article is "So ***** what?", not to be crude or anything, but I'm tired of people making such a big deal over nothing. I would buy that shirt if i had 20 dollars to burn on a funny shirt (before you start, the ***** that happened in, and because of, Germany was not funny, it was a tragedy and a senseless waste of human life, but that's done and over, time to move on).

    To jraines,

    As evil as Walmart may be, i seriously doubt that they intended for a shirt like that to make it to the shop floor, its just not a smart business practice. I mean all you saw was a crappy picture (or you just read the title), and your adding another notch to the board.
    • gwolf, on 10/12/2007, -8/+12A lot of good people got killed defeating what that symbolizes. They did it so you would be free to come on digg and say it doesn't matter.

      And that's my contribution to veteran's day here in the U.S.
    • orientis, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8@gwolf

      "Hey buddy, my dad died for that flag!"
      "...really? I bought this at K-Mart."

      The map is not the territory.
    • gwolf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I agree

      Whether its a flag or a death’s head they are symbols, just shorthand for a set of ideas. That particular shirt stands for a particularly bad set of ideas. You can’t defeat a bad idea with tanks or bombs anymore than you can win a war on the ideals of terrorist by killing some of them. You defeat bad ideals with better ones. That shirt wouldn’t get sold at Walmart if the ideals behind it had been defeated by the war; that war never ends.
  • happyperson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21i think this is quite appropriate...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO5WoLnOOlU
  • DucksofAnaheim, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4How would one with Sadam`s head go over right now....or in the future ?
    • orientis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I have a t-shirt with Osama Bin Laden on front and back. Full colour, doing the two fingers/one thumb thing near his head. Down the bottom it says "Well-Known"

      My mum's partner gave it to me. Someone else gave it to him as a joke gift. I don't know where the ***** it came from, but it's pretty weird.

      I wear it around the house and as pyjamas. Once I forgot I was wearing it and walked down the road to the shop. Got some funny looks from the guy behind the counter. Next day I went down wearing a dodgy shirt my dad brought back from the US, it has some old fisherman bursting out of an american flag with a speech-bubble "These colours won't run!". It's even more embarassing than the Osama one. I think I confused the hell out of him.
    • Keitosha, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Such shirt would hang in my closet. :)
  • del4, on 10/12/2007, -12/+3walmart has been selling clothes for children with white supremacist messages and iconography for at least 5 years now (when i first noticed.) sorry can't remember any examples. no-one else noticed?
    • carapi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Wow! You were so outraged about it that you can't remember ANY now?

      Sounds pretty credible to me.
  • del4, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5ok i remembered some examples, i have seen SS style lightning stripes, skulls with fire (reminiscent of nazis and hells angels) and numbers sometimes associated with racism. i have no question that they are doing it on purpose.
    • carapi, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2Prove it. OR else, you are the idiot. Show me all those things you claim to have seen, you ***** liar.

      Did they fire your mom or something? Maybe kick you and your fellow skateboarders off their property?
    • MrSunshine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Skateboard is the right catchword:

      http://www.88footwear.com/

      88 stands for "Heil Hitler".
  • TDot1980, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6OMG! SECRET NAZI T-SHIRT!!!

    /ytmnd
  • jordanrobbins, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7That reminds me! I need to play a little Return to Castle Wolfenstein
  • Pushkin, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2"The guy who wrote this got his comparison image for the skull from wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Division_Totenkopf"

    so perhaps the designer did too???

    If he did, he might have had a reason ...
  • omnidatacenter, on 10/12/2007, -12/+6I hate digg users
    • darkdaedra, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Well that's a shame because I love you and your sexy name, omnidatacenter!
  • Weakling, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1price tag: $6.66 probably ...
  • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Aside all free speech and all.

    All Nazi related stuff like this should not be sold at stores like that.

    Still cool looking skull thought.
  • Walt65, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Go back to your warcraft game
  • zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2to all those lets move on people.

    Just lets move on.

    Go visit some concentration camps when you're in Germany before you go to drink their beer.

    Who cares what happen at 9/11 lets move on.

    Who cares how bush lied to us... just let move on.
  • randomboy, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Who cares? How is this news? There are tons of other much more offensive t-shirts on the market. Why did this make the frontpage?
    • Potcaster, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Actually there are no more offensive T-shirts ever created in the History of Man, then any T-shirt that shows anything even similar to Nazi memorabilia. Apparently you've never read or heard about 6 million people being killed, many of whom had to work to death and carry their own dead, while being fed 400 calories a day as they slowly de-composed while alive.
    • Gemini25RB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@potcaster

      I can't tell if that was pseudo-sarcasm or not. I hope so, because I've seen worse (some relating to the holocaust, some not).
  • BlogCruiser, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4No, this shouldn't be an issue in America. If Walmart or anyone sells this shirt it doesn't really matter, it is legal and should be. Thank you for sharing the knowledge and onward I move. Now, if I would buy this shirt I will know of many things it was once an emblem for. Even if I decide for it to represent something new altogether or not. Does the two finger wave mean victory, peace or something else? I guess it is all relative to the person interpreting it.

  • blueface, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6just for anyone who still had any doubts as to the "authenticity" of this actually being the totenkopf...

    following links are from or relating to skrewdriver.net, a combat 18 (read white supremacist) website.

    http://isdrecords.com/store/index.php?cPath=22
    http://www.skrewdriver.net/index2.html

    seems like walmart have undercut these people though... zing!

    seriously, this totenkopf, in this form and slight variations has been used by combat 18 as well as other neo-nazi/white supremacist groups for years now. i remember first seeing this skull drawn onto someone's bag when i was in school (about 8 years ago). and yes, he did know what it meant...
  • mlazarov, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I believe that Vans also makes a pair of slip-ons that bear the very same design.
  • wuxia, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Far more people have been killed and are still being killed by Communists, which just happens to be the party of choice in China, Walmarts main supplier.
    I think Walmart realizes this and understands that to NOT sell this shirt would be hypocritical.
    Killing is killing. If we ban this shirt should we not also ban Roman Catholic symbols as they run a close second place for killing people through out history?
    • LastVisibleDog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3"Killing is killing. If we ban this shirt should we not also ban Roman Catholic symbols as they run a close second place for killing people through out history?"

      Check your numbers - your scale is way off. The Christian Church is not even close to the killing done by communists (Stalin, Mao, Pol pot) - nothing comes remotely close to killing done by Leftists. In the murder contest you have Leftists (communists), Nazis (semi-leftists), and at a distant third - religion. It is a matter of scale.
    • Tangaroa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@LastVisibleDog: Who told you the Nazis were "semi-Leftists"? That's backwards. The Nazis define the farthest extremes of the right wing, being the most elitist and authoritarian of the fascist parties and the farthest far-right political organization known to western society since before the Enlightenment. They're not centrists by any measurement.
    • gnomon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"They're not centrists by any measurement. "

      Except for their economic policies...
    • Gemini25RB, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@LastVisibleDog

      "Check your numbers - your scale is way off. The Christian Church is not even close to the killing done by communists (Stalin, Mao, Pol pot)"

      Gotta consider these things as a matter of percentages. There are a lot more people alive today than there were in the past. There were about 2.5billion people alive during WW2, meaning that 6mil is like .2% of the world's population. I don't know how many people the Christian Church has killed (I actually can't think of much besides the Spanish Inquisistion and the Crusades), but it wouldn't be too hard to get .2% of like 20 million.
    • joelito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Gemini

      And you must also consider the time frame in wich these deaths were performed. The Spanish "conquistadores", for example, destroyed entire civilizations, but it took them decades to do it, and they were less organized in the way these deaths were performed, the Nazis killed 6 million people in about five years. It took the Communists a bit more time than the Nazis to kill that many but they are still killing(or were until very recently)
  • ivanjs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Guess I'm missing something-is that a T-shirt in a frame? Looks more like a poster at a head shop or something (looks like paper) than a t-shirt. Then again, haven't been to Wal-Mart in a while.
    • jstem1994, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3They display tshirts in a plastic frame over cubes w/ the shirts in them. (Uh, not that I ever shop Walmart. Uh, I was just looking for ... guns. Yeah, guns and porno.)

      Ugly design too, Nazi or not.
  • EvilFerret, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2There are places that sell edible and crotchless panties for 6yr olds too.... Fact of the matter is, the world is a sick place. Even if it *is* the supposed to be the SS skull, that doesn't mean Wal-Mart would know about it.

    I'm pretty certain that the people who review t-shirt images Wal-Mart sells don't spend alot of time to research stuff like this... At the very most they said "Hmm...must be for an old band or something" and let it pass.
    • flyingonhigh, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Evil: The point is that they *should* spend time researching their images. They're an international megacorporation, they have no right to plead ignorance. They also work very hard to promote this "family" image at their corporate level, and censor CDs and video games for adult content on their shelves. Gives the image of pure hypocrisy (though I'm sure it's just stupidity in the sales dept, and not intentional).

      Good catch to Bentcorner, who originally posted this story, that's amazing what gets by in this world these days.
    • DaveV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@flyingonhigh:

      Why should they? They didn't make the T-shirts. They only bought them from a manufacturer.

      Now, answer me this: Did the Nazis create this symbol or, like a large number of other symbols, did they simply copy it from a different source?
    • fauxpaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Whoa. Hold up a minute. Where, exactly, do they sell edible and crotchless underwear for 6-year-olds? I guess anything's possible, but that just doesn't sound credible.
  • LastVisibleDog, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Freedom - ain't it a bitch

    • LastVisibleDog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1"Freedom - ain't it a bitch"

      Some clown actually dugg down that comment - wow.
  • rayt5, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4bury me
  • DaveV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Of course, everyone assumes that WalMart looked at a skull and crossbones on a shirt and knew instantly that it was exactly like the used by some Nazi unit.

    How many you knew on site that it was a Nazi symbol who are not either Nazi or WW2 buffs?

    Here is a good question: Where did the Nazis get it? It is possible that the design is older than the Nazis and the shirt designers got it from there.

    Of course, the shirt has "Since 1978" on it. Maybe, it is a copy of a symbol used by a band or something.

    This is lame fear mongering.
  • Napalm00, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1I saw this there the other day...and was amazed, iguess the guy who is supposed to check theses things wasnt a Jew.


    ITs good to be the king...i mean jewish
  • 4eloBek, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1i bought couple!
  • Alniner, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3OMG...I went to another local Wal-Mart and found this:

    http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/images/skull-crossbones-pirate-fla.jpg

    They support Pirates!!!!!
  • DogmaticAtheism, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1Jews need to stop bitching about everything, we all know the holocaust was fake.
  • Cthalupa, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Edit: Whoops, wrong place.
  • BentCorner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I found the image not only at Wikipedia, but other sites too. I just linked to the Wiki because it seemed the easy thing to do. I have seen it before in WW2 books. That is how I recognized it. Here are some other sites that show the same image and associate it to the 3rd SS:

    http://www.waffen-ss.no/SS-Division-Totenkopf.htm
    http://www.feldgrau.com/3ss.html
    http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=1980
    http://www.totenkopf1943.com/index.html
  • evil-doer, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4this just in.. jews whine about stuff.
  • WebsterJTC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5actually, flag burning is not illegal. you can do whatever you want to the flag. That's not to say you won't get arrested for public endangerment if you start a fire in public...but the actual burning of the flag is legal. See Texas v. Johnson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._Johnson
  • TechScribe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Who cares, it's probably just seasonal halloween merchandise.
    Nobody would complain about these being sold at the local goth boutique or tatoo parlor.
  • egarcia79, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4 DAVECOR

    "But keep this in mind, a company this size doesn't do anything on a whim. This shirt was selected by a buyer who had to show it to a room full of executives for approval. It was also probably run past a focus group or two."

    there's no way that the execs are going to look at every item and piece of clothing that is bought and approve them. they have other things to do like run the company. they have buyers for that. my fiance works for limited. they own express, express for men, victoria secret,henri bendel, limited, etc. they are a big company. she is not a buyer but works directly with them and deals with them on a daily basis. they have the authority to purchase items. that's their job. they don't get all of there purchases approved by corparate execs. there are also no focus groups. there are people who are hired on there "expertise" of fashion. the general public is not called in to see what kind of clothes should be purchased. i don't claim to know exactly how walmart runs their business but i can say with a fair amount of certainty that the way you explain it is not true.
  • chi1thook, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Let's be honest Walmart exploits illegals rather than hire Americans. Uses exploited labor in the third world. Is responsible for the current trend of outsource that is destroying the middle class. And categorized Planet of the Apes under black history and the Elders of Zion as history. Their corporate management are bigots and exploiters. I'm a business man and they are an embarrassment to the business community.
    • gnomon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1A real businessman? Really? Can I touch you?

      But seriously, can I see a source for them filing Planet of the Apes under black history? That sounds like someone in middle management's joke, not a corporate policy.
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