The Auschwitz slogan 'Work sets you free' seen at the Re-Open Illinois protest aimed at governor, JB Pritzker, who is of Jewish descent
Jim Vondruska/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The official Twitter account of the Auschwitz memorial in Poland condemned a sign that bore a Nazi slogan at an anti-lockdown rally in Chicago on Friday.
The sign, belonging to an unidentified woman, read: "Arbeit Macht Frei, JB," referring to the Illinois governor JB Pritzker who is of Jewish descent.
The Auschwitz memorial responded to the picture, saying that it was "painful to see this symbol instrumentalized and used again to spread hate."
Dennis Kosuth, a nurse attending the event as a counter-protester, posted the picture on Twitter, which has since garnered more than 50,000 likes.
The Auschwitz Memorial in Poland has condemned a photo of a sign from an anti-lockdown protest in Chicago that bore the Nazi slogan: "Arbeit Macht Frei, JB."
The sign, which was held by an unidentified woman attending the "Re-Open Illinois" protest on May 1, is referring to Illinois governor JB Pritzker, who is of Jewish descent.
"Arbeit macht frei" is a German phrase which means "Work sets you free", and was placed above the gates of Auschwitz — the largest Nazi extermination camp during the Holocaust, where at least 1.1 million people died.
—Dennis Kosuth, RN (@Dennis_Kosuth) May 1, 2020
On Saturday, the organization that runs the Auschwitz Memorial responded to the picture on Twitter, saying it was "painful to see this symbol instrumentalized and used again to spread hate."
The full tweet read: "'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 and used again to spread hate. It's a symptom of moral and intellectual degeneration."
The photo was shared on Twitter by a registered nurse, Dennis Kosuth, who attended the same event on Friday as a counter-protester. It has since garnered more than 50,000 likes.
—Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 2, 2020
Kosuth, who said he took the picture on his phone, told Buzzfeed that some protesters at the event were trying to provoke him by claiming he was an actor.
According to Kosuth, when he confronted the woman holding the sign, she defended herself by saying she had Jewish friends.
Kacper Pempel/Reuters
The protest in Chicago is the latest in a series of demonstrations around the country to reopen the economy.
On April 30, hundreds of demonstrators, some armed, descended on Michigan's state capitol to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's extension of the state's stay-at-home order.
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