A group who walked through a supermarket dressed in Nazi uniforms have been called "disrespectful" ahead of a new report detailing anti-Semitic inicdents in Australia.
On Saturday, October 26, four people believed to be in their early 20s walked through a Coles outlet in Woodend, an hour north of Melbourne. A photograph obtained by The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald showed the group clad in swastika armbands and the imperial eagle.
Local Craig MacKenzie told the Sydney Morning Herald they appeared to be heading to a party, and didn't necessarily identify with white supremacist values or Nazi ideology.
"I said to them that they were being highly disrespectful... the blokes told me that it was 'only a joke' and to f**k off," MacKenzie told the paper.
MacKenzie said he told the group "there could be people here who went through World War II", pointing out elderly patrons who were clearly intimidated.
"They told me to f**k off again."
The incident preceeded a report by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, due to be released on Monday, detailing anti-Semitic incidents in Australia over the past 12 months.
Last year's report revealed a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic harassment, vandalism and Nazi symbolism.
President of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Jennifer Huppert, told the Sydney Morning Herald a growing "disconnect" with the Holocaust may be repsonsible for the "lack of understanding".
Huppert said the incident at the Woodend supermarket would have been "disturbing and distressing" for anyone with a connection to the horrors of World War II.
"It brings back memories, it brings back trauma."
Last month, four men dressed as Nazi soldiers were allegedly dismissed from Oktoberfest celebrations in Victoria's Yarra Valley.
Extremist graffiti, including eight swastikas, was also painted on Melbourne's Nylex building in October.
