In early May, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in downtown Chicago to protest the anti-COVID-19 lockdown order by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzger, who is Jewish. One protester, wearing an American flag protective mask, carried a sign with the words “Arbeit Macht Frei, JB.” The German slogan, which means “Work sets you free,” was displayed prominently at Auschwitz and other concentration camps to help the Nazis murder millions of Jews and others in gas chambers.
Quote: ” ‘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.’ ” — from an article on HuffingtonPost.com (linked below) by Mary Papenfuss
Sources: HuffingtonPost.com
Learn more about the slogan “Arbeit macht frie” on Wikipedia. >>
Read “Auschwitz Museum Condemns Use of Nazi Slogan at Illinois COVID-19 Protest” by Mary Pappenfuss. >>
Photo: NBC News