Institute calls for swastikas removal

DIFFERENT? Using the Nazi symbols for commercial purposes is a despicable act of offense against victims of the Holocaust, the German Institute Taipei said

By Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter





The German Institute Taipei yesterday asked the owner of a salon in Hsinchu to remove signs that show razors arranged to resemble swastikas, saying that using Nazi symbols for commercial purposes is despicable.

The front entrance of the shop, called Berlin (柏林) hair salon, has two round signs on either side of the door featuring what appear to be the ancient symbol created from the arrangement of four straight razor blades.

“In regards to the hairdressing salon in Hsinchu using Nazi swastika as door signs, the German Institute Taipei states that using Nazi symbols for commercial purposes is a despicable act of offense against the victims of the Holocaust,” the institute said in a statement.

Two swastika signs at a hair salon in Hsinchu are pictured yesterday. Photo: Fu Chao-piao, Taipei Times

“We call upon the owner of the shop to immediately remove those Nazi signs,” it added.

The institute said it approached the owner of the salon to ask him to change the design after receiving a complaint from a member of the public, but to no avail.

Salon owner Hsu Chen-yang (徐振洋) when asked for comment yesterday said that the design is not based on a Nazi symbol.

“How are they the same? They are completely different. It is merely a pattern formed by razors,” Hsu said.

His store does not contain any Nazi-themed decorations, he added.

He does not intend to change the signs, Hsu said, adding that they have been up for a long time.

It is not the first time the apparent use of Nazi symbols has stirred controversy in Taiwan.

In December 2016, students at Kuang Fu High School in Hsinchu paraded in Nazi-style uniforms and displayed Nazi symbols during a campus event.

In October last year, an auto parts retailer was found to have put Nazi flag stickers on shelves in the shop.

In January, the institute and the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei condemned the German Old Mark Association, an association demanding the redemption of old German mark bonds, whose members often display the Nazi flag in public.