The Auschwitz Museum condemned the use of an old Nazi adage at the anti-quarantine protest in Illinois.
A woman attending the “Re-open Illinois” protest on Friday was demonstrating with a sign that read, “Arbeit macht frei, JB.” The initials are likely denoting Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish.
The museum responded to a photo of the woman holding her sign hours later, condemning the usage of the German phrase meaning “work sets you free,” which was the Nazi slogan displayed at a number of Nazi concentration camps.
“‘Arbeit macht frei’ was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of #Auschwitz,” the museum tweeted. “Those words became one of the icons of human hatred. It’s painful to see this symbol instrumentalized & used again to spread hate. It’s a symptom of moral & intellectual degeneration.”
Dennis Kosuth, a registered nurse who took the photo of the woman holding the sign, told the Hill that he asked her if she was a Nazi and if she knew what the adage meant. The woman responded by claiming she wasn’t a Nazi and that she has friends who are Jewish.
“Arbeit macht frei” was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of #Auschwitz. Those words became one of the icons of human hatred. It’s painful to see this symbol instrumentalized & used again to spread hate. It’s a symptom of moral & intellectual degeneration. https://t.co/ZRxja8x6eS
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 2, 2020
“I couldn’t deal with her, I was so disturbed by it,” Kosuth said of the interaction.
Pritzker has repeatedly expressed the importance for extensive test-and-trace capabilities statewide so the lockdown measures can be lifted. The stay-at-home order in the state has been extended to May 31, but it could be overturned by the courts after a Republican lawmaker filed a lawsuit claiming he did not have the legal authority to extend the order longer than 30 days.
