Nazi toy cars for kids aged over six withdrawn following outcry

A toy company has apologised for selling items with Nazi symbols and “likenesses of two German high officers”.

Replicas of vehicles used by the Third Reich were pulled from sale this week by Polish firm COBI Toys.

In a statement posted by the Toybook website, COBI’s owner Robert Podles apologised, saying: “A recent set of ours was posted on our social media sites and featured the names and likenesses of two German high officers. This was a first for us and will be the last.”

The items included Mercedes cars used by the Nazis, replete with swastikas, and mini-figurines of Wehrmacht leader Field Marshal Paulus, as well as German Admiral and Chief of the military intelligence, Wilhelm Franz Canaris. According to Toybook, one product listing “notes Adolf Hitler’s affection for the vehicle”.

Podles added: “We realised some had taken offence and now fully understand the implications to some. We have already stopped the sale of these sets and we will not offer them in the future.

“We have also realised that we are not doing a thorough job in reviewing the comments and third-party posts on our social media accounts. Certain people are changing, customising our products, and posting content that is obviously offensive and repulsive. They should have been condemned and removed immediately. This is an error in staffing and training that we are fixing immediately. I am ashamed that it has taken us this long to address this problem.”

He said his company produced items for people who “wanted to educate themselves about whatever set they were building”, but “unfortunately, we did not do a particularly good job of explaining this goal through our products and recent actions. I apologise. I believe in fighting antisemitism in all forms.”