Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is pulling a skull-and-crossbones T-shirt from it shelves after a blogger complained on his online journal that the image was identical to a Nazi SS emblem from World War II.
Rick Rottman was shopping in Wal-Mart over the weekend and saw the shirts in three different Wal-Mart stores. Rottman is a U.S. navy veteran who said, "I used to read a lot of books about the Second World War and the skull is really distinctive." He took a picture with his cellphone and then confirmed that the images were the same when he got home.
Wal-Mart explained that they were not aware of the origins of the image and were working as quickly as possible to remove the T-shirts from the stores. They are also reviewing the processes among suppliers to ensure that this never happens again. Wal-Mart sent an email explaining their actions and concern to blogs that carried the story.
According to this AP article carried on CanadaEast.com, the Waffen SS was the fighting arm of the notorious SS (Schutzstaffel), founded in 1925 as the personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler and other Nazi leaders.
Waffen SS divisions have been implicated in murder sprees in German-occupied countries on the eastern and western fronts in the Second World War. Some guarded concentration camps.
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