How Adidas has hidden its dark history of Nazi ties all these years

Adidas recently dropped Palestinian Bella Hadid from its new sneakers campaign, pulling images of the model from its adverts, bowing to pressure from the Israeli government and pro-Israel groups in the US.

Hadid is a vocal opponent of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and has repeatedly spoken out against the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza amidst Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave, which has claimed the lives of over 39,000 people.

In the ads displayed on towering billboards in New York City buildings and on the sneaker giants’ social media accounts, the Palestinian-American model was photographed wearing Adidas’ newly relaunched SL72 retro sneakers.

The original pair, part of Adidas’ ‘SL’ (Super Light) line, was designed to provide athletes with a lightweight sneaker option during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

During the mega sporting event in West Germany, a raid on the Israeli team’s quarter by the Palestinian Black September group, involving a gunfight with the police, left eleven Israelis dead. Five Palestinians and a German officer was also killed during the standoff.

Israeli critics were quick to point out the history of the sneakers and allege that Adidas’ choice of Hadid as the face of the campaign was anti-Semitic and ‘even arguably intentional’, a correlation apparently drawn based on the supermodel’s views against Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

Bella Hadid as a constant target

It is not the first time the supermodel has been at the centre of antisemitism accusations.

In 2021, when Hadid joined in on a “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” chant on her Instagram Live, Israel’s official account on X, then known as Twitter, accused her of advocating to throw “Jews into the sea”.

“When celebrities like Bella Hadid advocate for throwing Jews into the sea, they are advocating for the elimination of the Jewish state,” read the tweet.

Following the sneaker ad controversy, the same account described Hadid as “a half-Palestinian model who has a history of spreading anti-Semitism and calling for violence against Israelis and Jews”. “She and her father frequently promote blood libels and anti-Semitic conspiracies against Jews,” the Israeli post added, tagging Adidas with a question mark.

Hadid has also been the target of pro-Israel organisations.

"To have her launch a shoe commemorating an Olympics when so much Jewish blood was shed is just sick," said Sacha Roytman, the chief executive of the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement.

Adidas’ Nazi past

However, the footwear giant’s own dark past is well-documented, especially its links to Hitler’s Nazi party.

Many German athletes wore Adidas’ Dassler shoes in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, organised by Hitler’s Nazi regime, to make a point of Aryan athletic superiority to the world.

At the time, the co-founders of the brand, Adi and Rudi brothers, were both members of the Nazi party who signed off their letters with “Heil Hitler,” according to “Sneaker Wars” by Barbara Smit, as cited in an article by the Time Magazine.

During World War II, the Dassler brothers ceased their sneaker production business to repurpose their factory to manufacture the Panzerchreck (Tank Terror) – an anti-tank weapon designed to obliterate Allied tanks.

Adidas has so far maintained silence about its past ties to the Nazi party. On its official website, the sportswear company doesn’t mention its history preceding 1949, the year when it became official.

Costly fall-out with Kanye West

The multi-national company’s ties to Nazi Germany became a point of scrutiny back in 2022 as well after it ended its partnership with world-famous rapper Kanye West over his anti-Semitic comments, an accusation he conceded. West, who now goes by the name Ye, drew heavy criticism for tweeting, “I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE … You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” in October 2022.

Adidas said its severing of ties with West cost the company $246 in the first quarter of the year, with its total revenue falling by 1 percent.

In March 2024, Adidas said it donated or was planning to give away more than $150 million to groups fighting anti-Semitism from the sales of the initially frozen stocks of the Yeezy sneakers designed by West.

However, some critics deemed its reaction' too slow' then and pointed out that the company made the move only two weeks later.

Slammed as “intentional” When Bella Hadid’s ad was rolled out, many accused Adidas of not ‘learning from past mistakes’, while others asserted that the campaign was so “calculated and perfectly anti-Semitic that it is hard to believe it was a simple mistake”.

Hadid has since reportedly hired lawyers to sue Adidas for lack of public accountability. According to sources cited by American entertainment website TMZ, she said the company "spearheaded a cruel and damaging campaign.”

Adidas responded to criticism for the ads by stating that it “made an unintentional mistake.”

“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologise for any upset or distress caused,” the company said in a statement, announcing that it was “revising the remainder of the campaign”.

“We also apologise to our partners, Bella Hadid, A$AP Nast, Jules Koundé, and others, for any negative impact on them, and we are revising the campaign,” the statement concluded.

A state accused of genocide

The Bella Hadid ad campaign controversy comes at a time when Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

The rhetoric of Israeli officials throughout the country’s devastating war on Gaza has made allusions to ethnic cleansing, some of them coming from Israeli decision-makers, including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other extremist ministers in the far-right government.

On October 9, two days after Israel’s war on Gaza following Hamas’ cross-border operation on the enclave, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We are fighting against human animals,” as he announced a “complete siege” of the besieged enclave, saying Israeli authorities would cut electricity and prevent food and fuel from entering the territory.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, "There are no innocent civilians in Gaza," on October 14. Two weeks later, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu quoted a verse from the bible after saying Israel would not agree to a cease-fire in Gaza.

"You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible,” Netanyahu said, adding, "We remember, and we are fighting … our soldiers are part of a legacy of Jewish warriors that goes back 3,000 years."

Now in its 10th month, Israel's war on Gaza has so far uprooted over 2 million Palestinians from their homes, killed more than 39,000 — the majority of them women and children –– and wounded over 90,000 others.

Criticism of genocide or anti-Semitism?

Israel’s war on Gaza has reignited the long debate about the definition of anti-Semitism and whether any criticism of Israel amounts to anti-Jewish hate speech.

Netanyahu has repeatedly accused critics of Israel or his policies of anti-Semitism since October 7, using fiery rhetoric to compare them to the Nazis, which some argue risks diluting the term’s meaning.

Bella Hadid is only one among the many who have born the brunt of those accusations, as an opponent of Israel’s actions on the Palestinian enclave.

“Not every criticism against Israel is anti-Semitic,” Tom Segev, an Israeli historian told the AP news agency.

"The moment you say it is anti-Semitic hate ... you take away all legitimacy from the criticism and try to crush the debate.”