Auschwitz Museum Condemns Use Of Nazi Slogan At Illinois COVID-19 Protest

Source: Huffington Post

05/02/2020 09:08 pm ET Updated 3 hours ago

The “work sets you free” sign singled out Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish.
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By Mary Papenfuss

he Auschwitz Museum issued a scathing attack on the use of a notorious Nazi slogan on a sign at an Illinois protest against COVID-19 safety measures.

The German phrase on the protest sign, “Arbeit Macht Frei,” was written in the gates at Auschwitz and other Nazi death camps.

It means “work sets you free,” darkly referring to starving Jews at the camp who were forced to work until they dropped dead — or were killed. The sign at the Re-Open Illinois protest Friday in Chicago also included the initials “JB,” referring to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish.

″‘Arbeit macht frei’ was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of Auschwitz,” said a statement from the museum, located at the death camp site in Poland. “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.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arbeit-macht-frei-re-open-illisnoi-auschwitz_n_5eae03ecc5b639d6e5776b0b