( CNN ) -- Jewish organizations called for a Romanian official to resign and face a criminal investigation after he wore a Nazi uniform during a fashion show over the weekend . Radu Mazare , the mayor of the town of Constanta , wore a Nazi uniform during a fashion show over the weekend . Radu Mazare , the mayor of the town of Constanta , and his 15-year-old son `` entered the stage marching the clearly identifiable Nazi 'goose step , ' '' the Center for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism in Romania said in a letter to the country 's prosecutor general . The organization 's director , Marco Katz , said Mazare had broken Romanian law and encouraged his son to do the same , `` educating him to treat the law with contempt . '' Katz said Mazare was sending a message `` that to wear Nazi uniforms and to march the Nazi steps is legal and 'in vogue ' in Romania . '' He urged the authorities and the head of Mazare 's Social Democrat party to show that message `` will be strongly countermanded . '' Mazare , 41 , said he had not noticed the Nazi swastika symbol on the uniform before he wore it , according to the Romanian Times newspaper . `` I checked it before I put it on but the swastika was very small and I did n't see it , '' he said . `` I really liked the look of the uniform after seeing it in the Tom Cruise film 'Valkyrie . ' I bought it from a costume hire shop in Germany . '' A top Nazi hunter said Mazare should quit . `` The proper thing for you to do is to admit your mistake , apologize for it and resign your position , '' Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem wrote to Mazare . Zuroff sent CNN a copy of the letter . He said it was no defense that the uniform was that of the Wehrmacht -- the army -- rather than the SS , the elite Nazi guard which took the lead in killing Jews during the Holocaust . `` The Wehrmacht played an active role in the mass murder of European Jewry and many other innocent victims . By dressing in a Wehrmacht uniform , you are expressing totally unwarranted support and nostalgia for an army which committed the most terrible war crimes and acts of genocide , '' the letter said . `` It would hard to adequately describe the depth of the pain that your appearance caused , not only to Jews and other victims of Nazism , but to any person of moral integrity who knows the history of World War II , '' Zuroff wrote . Zuroff told CNN he did not expect Mazare to resign , or even to respond to the letter . But he said he hoped the mayor might act on Zuroff 's suggestion that Mazare create a Romanian-language edition of an acclaimed exhibition on the crimes of the Wehrmacht . The Nazi uniform incident , which took place Sunday , was the first time Zuroff heard of Mazare , he said . `` He has a history of being outrageous , but his antics have never included something that I would deal with , '' Zuroff said . `` He 's a real character , apparently . He 's also very popular , which makes this much more difficult . '' CNN attempts to contact Mazare were unsuccessful . Romania was a Nazi ally from 1940 to 1944 , under the leadership of a right-wing military government led by General Ion Antonescu . At least 270,000 Romanian Jews were killed or died from mistreatment during the Holocaust , according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia . The 1930 Romanian census recorded 728,115 people who identified themselves as Jewish , comprising approximately 4 percent of the population , the reference work says . Antonescu was deposed in 1944 and Romania switched sides in World War II .
Jewish organizations call for a Romanian official to resign . The European Union has condemned the anti-Semitic remarks made by the mayor of Bucharest, and called on him to step down. Radu Mazare said he did not notice Nazi swastika symbol on the uniform .