A South African website has been slammed after it unveiled a tattoo kit designed for tattoo removal that it said was used by Holocaust survivors.
The company, South African National Public Protector (SANDP), sold 10 units of the equipment through its recent London auction — only to be then shut down by the Israeli Supreme Court.
The kits, used for removal of Nazi tattoos, were priced between $260 and $210. The company was urged to pull them before they reached their intended market.
“Israel’s supreme court is apparently unable to enforce its legislation,” Save of Auschwitz told The Sun. “The next step is to buy an airplane, take the kits all over the world and stage an international tattoo war.”
The Sun reported that customers could send the kit to Israel for removal.
Adam Yaqup, who operates shop Save of Auschwitz, said: “They would definitely sell it, probably for a profit. I think people will actually buy them and try to have the tattoos removed themselves.”
The kits are described as essentially a “e-stamp laser system.”
In a hearing, the Israeli Supreme Court said the public interest “prevailed and the law cannot be applied selectively.”
Eugene Kontorovich, a professor of law at Northwestern University, told The Sun the Israeli court made the right call.
“The European ban on tattooing is generally beneficial, and this ban is particularly beneficial to those Holocaust survivors who were able to get rid of their Nazi tattoos at Auschwitz before the walls came down,” he said.
“South African authorities were seemingly willing to ignore the German ban on tattooing, but the European ban is far more resolute, and it stands in the way of legalizing something that they have long regarded as perverse,” he added.