Tchibo and Esso have withdrawn advertising posters at petrol stations after discovering they featured a slogan which was used by the Nazis on the gate at the Buchenwald concentration camp. The ad campaign, which began in early January, used the expression

’Jedem den Seinen’, which can be translated as ’to each his own’ or ’to each what he deserves’. The slogan caused controversy in Germany because it was very similar to the slogan ’Jedem das Seine’ which hung at the entrance to the Buchenwald concentration camp.

A spokeswoman for Tchibo said: "We never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings, we wanted to show the variety of our coffee. Regrettably we failed to recognise the explosiveness of the slogan when we accepted it from the advertising agency – the posters were developed by the agency and Esso.

"All the posters have now been removed and the slogan won’t be displayed any more."

About 56,000 people are estimated to have died in the Nazi-run concentration camp.