The Holocaust Educational Trust has criticised Amazon for selling an antisemitic children's book by a convicted Nazi official.

The organisation has written to Amazon to express its concern over the continued sale and promotion of Der Giftpilz.

Der Giftpilz or 'The Poisoned Mushroom' by Julius Streicher was first published in German in 1938.

Streicher was the founder and publisher of the virulently antisemitic Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer and was executed for crimes against humanity following the Nuremberg trials.

Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “This book is obscene. It is worrying that distinguished publishers like Amazon would make available products that promote racist or hate speech of any kind, let alone those from the darkest period of European history. We have already raised our concerns about similar issues over the past decade.

"As the Holocaust moves from living history to history, our survivors regularly raise the concern that Holocaust denial and antisemitism still persist.

"We urge Amazon to do the right thing and remove this material from sale immediately, audit what else it may be on sale, and review their policies to prevent this ever happening again.”

Her comments follow a letter the Trust has written to Dough Gurr, managing director of Amazon, to ask for an explanation and for other books by Streicher to be withdrawn.

Earlier this month, Amazon removed two books from sale by an author whose works accuse Jews of having "played an exceptionally active role in promoting and inciting war" and Hitler.

The book by "Thomas Dalton PhD" — Eternal Strangers: Critical Views of Jews and Judaism Through the Ages — was being sold along with The Jewish Hand in the World Wars, until antisemitism campaigners raised the alarm.

An Amzon spokesperson said: “As a bookseller, we are mindful of book censorship throughout history, and we do not take this lightly. We believe that providing access to written speech is important, including books that some may find objectionable, though we take concerns from the Holocaust Educational Trust seriously and are listening to its feedback.  

“Amazon has policies governing which books can be listed for sale. We invest significant time and resources to ensure our guidelines are followed, and remove products that do not adhere to our guidelines. Additionally, beyond our proactive measures, we also promptly investigate all concerns raised.”