Shop Apologises For Selling Colouring Books Featuring Adolf Hitler

A chain of Dutch stores has apologised after inadvertently selling children's colouring books featuring an image of Adolf Hitler.

The Kruidvat chain of stores posted a statement on its website saying the colouring books, which went on sale this week, were immediately pulled from shelves after the discovery of an "inappropriate image".

The image shows Hitler giving a Nazi salute. On his left arm is a red band with a swastika.

Without directly referring to Hitler, the company said it is investigating how the image got into the books "despite various checks of the content".

It was not clear how many of the books were sold.

The Belgian publisher distributed the book, which was made in India, called it a regrettable mistake.

A spokesman for Trifora said: 

"My suspicion is that the man who created the colouring book got a book of famous people out of the closet and selected a pair, which unfortunately included Adolf Hitler. Maybe he did not recognise him."

"It is a nasty combination of circumstances. We check the book on translations, but do not check all the coloring pictures. We probably should've, but it did not happen."

The book also contained pictures of Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein.