Amazon under pressure for selling Nazi propaganda books

Amazon, the online retailer and marketplace, has come under pressure over the sale of Nazi propaganda books on its platform.

Among the books was an antisemitic children’s book authored by Julius Streicher, the Nazi publisher of the notorious Der Stürmer newspaper, called “The Poisonous Mushroom”, which was originally released in 1938. The book is reportedly available on Amazon in German, as well as English, French and Spanish.

According to reports, Amazon acknowledged the concerns raised but would not remove the books, stating that although it took the concerns “seriously”, nevertheless “we believe that providing access to written speech is important, including books that some may find objectionable”.

However, in recent months Amazon has withdrawn other books by authors espousing far-right views, including earlier this year, when it removed two books written by a Holocaust denier, including one that blamed antisemitism on the Jews and another that appeared to advocate genocide.