A Spanish model maker has defended its range of humorous Second World War miniatures that includes a resin figure of a Nazi doctor holding a syringe and knife.

The character, a woman named Dr Strudel, is dressed in a costume resembling a Nazi military uniform.

She is depicted holding a syringe containing a green substance in her left hand and a blade in her right hand hidden behind her back.

Critics said the model was an insensitive reference to the doctors who conducted medical tests on Jews during the Second World War.

The Dr Strudel model, which was announced by Madrid-based makers Scale75 this week, was being sold for €12.40 (£10.70) online this week, but appeared to have been removed from the website on Friday afternoon.

Other miniatures available in the company’s “WWII Little Big War” range include a pistol-carrying officer called Otton von Lokimberg and Harry Kane, a moustachioed RAF pilot who comes with a pet British bulldog.

One Facebook user, Mark Wilson, wrote on Scale75’s Facebook page: “Having a miniature that clearly represents a Nazi doctor? In view of the reality of the experiments that they did on their victims. No not my idea of a comic figure.”

Another user said it was “no way to picture Nazis as cute or sweet miniatures”.

But Scale75 said it condemned “all kinds of cruelty in the history of mankind” but initially said it would not withdraw the character from sale.

“We greatly sorry that the design of our Dr. Strudel has hurt some sensitivity,” the company said in a statement on its Facebook page.

“Our intention has been to represent an obviously cruel and detestable character, as smoothly as possible.

“The figure is part of a collection in which there are good, bad and very bad characters, as in hundreds of figures of delectable characters in history.

“The figure is not going to be withdrawn from the market because we consider that we are not doing apology [sic] of any kind or praising these types of characters.”

But later on Friday afternoon the company confirmed the item would be removed from sale.

Inmates at camps including Auschwitz were selected for a range of hazardous experiments including exposure to malaria and mustard gas, and others designed to advance Nazi racial ideology.

Many were performed by Josef Mengele, dubbed the Angel of Death, an anthropologist who conducted genetic research on human subjects.

He fled Germany shortly before the end of the war and lived the rest of life in South America.