StoneMor - one of largest cemetery owners in the US - apologizes after issuing 2020 calendar with quote from Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler
StoneMor, one of the largest cemetery owners in the United States, has apologized after accidentally issuing a 2020 calendar that had a quote attributed to Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler on it.
The quote, which was featured on the calendar's page for the month of November, read: 'My honor is my loyalty'.
It was attributed to Himmler on the calendar, which was based on the theme of 'honor'.
The quote was widely used by the Nazis during WWII and Himmler, one of the main architects of the holocaust, is said to have used it in reference to Hitler.
StoneMor, one of the largest cemetery owners in the United States, has apologized after accidentally issuing a 2020 calendar that had a quote attributed to Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler on it
It is understood StoneMor became aware of the mishap around January but it only came to light this week after the Philadelphia Inquirer received an anonymous tip.
StoneMor had printed 38,000 copies of the calendar late last year to send to funeral homes across the country as part of a marketing campaign.
'StoneMor's marketing team caught this issue after the calendar was sent to print but prior to mass distribution to our customers,' CEO Joe Redling said in a statement this week.
'We successfully recalled and destroyed most of the calendars.'
The company, which operates nearly 90 funeral homes and 320 cemeteries across the country, blamed an outside vendor for choosing the infamous quote.
The quote was widely used by the Nazis during WWII and Heinrich Himmler (above with Hitler), one of the main architects of the holocaust, is said to have used it in reference to Hitler
After becoming aware, StoneMor said it fired the vendor and its own employees who failed to pick up the error.
StoneMor said it had no tolerance for anti-semitism.
The CEO added that he believes the error was made out of ignorance.
After learning of the error, the company said it alerted the Anti-Defamation League and local Jewish leaders at the time.
A spokesperson from the Philadelphia ADL office confirmed that StoneMor had reached out to them around the New Year.
'They realized it pretty quickly, and tried to pull the calendars back. We talked to them at the time,' the spokesperson said.
'It was a mistake and they took it seriously. But that ignorance can have a real-world impact.'
StoneMor, one of the largest cemetery owners in the United States, has apologized after accidentally issuing a 2020 calendar that had a quote attributed to Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler on it