The U.S. Committee for Holodomor-Genocide Awareness has launched a petition for Amazon to remove Soviet-era merchandise from its inventory. The announcement from the organization was posted on Facebook on April 26, with comments on the post calling Amazon’s decision to sell these items “white-washing history.” (Another comment noted that Amazon also sells Nazi memorabilia.)
A simple search on Amazon for “Soviet memorabilia” pulls up items such as “Victory Day” medals commemorating the Soviet victory in the “Great Patriotic War” (as Soviet nostalgists call the second world war); propaganda material, including a poster of the Soviet flag being raised over the Reichstag in 1945; Soviet commemorative coins and currency; KGB insignias, Soviet badges and propaganda pins; and more. Many of these items are adorned with the offensive hammer and sickle of the USSR, which should be acknowledged as a symbol of oppression, mass killing, terror and subjugation.
The U.S. Holodomor Committee suggests ways to reach out, with a sample letter posted on the top right of its website (www.UkraineGenocide.com). Suggestions include: send an e-mail to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, at [email protected]; call the company headquarters at 206-266-1000; use the “help” link on the Amazon website to lodge a complaint; add to the Twitter storm @Amazon with the hashtag #BanSovietSymbols, as well as through social media outlets Instagram (@Amazon), Facebook (www.facebook.com/amazon) and others.
The UkraineGenocide.com website’s introduction to its sample letter page notes: “Amazon.com Inc. carries in its inventory Soviet style T-shirts and other apparel. Soviet-era symbols such as the hammer and sickle that are displayed on these products are especially disturbing. Similar items were available at Walmart, Inc., but were recently discontinued after public outcry. These symbols represent a repressive regime that committed tremendous crimes against humanity, in particular the 1932-1933 genocide in Ukraine, the Holodomor.”
The sample letter adds that the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor was commemorated in 2019, and points out that the Soviet paraphernalia solid via Amazon are symbols of a regime that killed millions of Ukrainians and other nations enslaved by the USSR. The letter also underscores that other companies, like Walmart and Adidas, have recently removed similar offensive Soviet items from their inventories, and urges Amazon to follow their example.
Today, people have become desensitized to the legacy of the hammer and sickle and the swastika, as we see these symbols scrawled on synagogues, cemeteries, monuments, community centers and even churches in an attempt to create an atmosphere of hate and fear. We also see Che Guevara T-shirts being worn by people who have no idea what it is like to live under Communism or totalitarianism. The community must remain vigilant and fortify its resolve to right these wrongs, otherwise the wrongs will overwhelm society.
We urge our community members and their representative organizations to join in this petition and to send a clear message to Amazon and other retailers that these items have no place in their inventories and that these businesses should not make money off the tragedy-filled history of other people.