Detroit Rabbi Calls on Shelter-in-Place Protesters to Stop Making Nazi Comparisons

A Detroit rabbi called on those protesting the shelter-in-place restrictions to stop comparing governors and the restrictions to the Nazis.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council/American Jewish Committee (AJC), wrote in the Detroit Free Press that some of the protesters at the April 30 protest in Lansing, Michigan, held signs comparing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, to Adolf Hitler.

“What these protesters, including one holding a poster of the governor emulating Adolf Hitler, may not have realized is that any time Nazi or other symbols, such as the yellow Star of David, are used, they trivialize the genocide of the Holocaust and the murder of millions of people of all backgrounds,” Lopatin wrote. “Members of the Jewish community, especially the survivors of the concentration and extermination camps, feel these insensitive symbols acutely, as do our African-American brothers and sisters when people wave the Confederate flag and other symbols of slavery and racism.”

He added that such signs undermine respectful dialogue needed to discuss the best way forward through the COVID-19 pandemic that respects both public health and safety and the economy.

“When individuals hoist hateful flags, signs and symbols, however meant, that vital argument ends,” Lopatin wrote. “That is not just sad, but also a betrayal of the freedoms we have in America to speak our minds freely.”

The rabbi also pointed out that those who bring forth such imagery at the protests are unfairly lumping in good-faith protesters who want nothing to do “with those vicious ideologies.”

He concluded with a call for civil discourse.

“So let us argue with each other,” Lopatin wrote. “Let us argue about which experts we want to listen to and how we want to interpret their message. Let us do this while, at the same time, remembering that good citizenship and strong arguments can also be respectful and not used as a cynical tool to advance a political stand or trivialize the horrific history of our brothers and sisters.”

The AJC tweeted, “Outrageous: Protesters calling for an end to coronavirus shutdowns while bearing Nazi symbols are trivializing the Holocaust and the mass murder of millions of people.”

Outrageous: Protesters calling for an end to coronavirus shutdowns while bearing Nazi symbols are trivializing the Holocaust and the mass murder of millions of people.

Read JCRC/AJC Detroit executive director Rabbi Asher Lopatin's op-ed in @freep.https://t.co/nBfvY5fV0w

— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) May 5, 2020

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a report on May 4 highlighting extremism in the protests.

“In Illinois, protestors carried signs bearing swastikas directed at Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is Jewish, and one vehicle was emblazoned with the message, ‘Recall the Fuhrer,’ ” the report states. “A woman in Chicago held a sign reading, ‘Arbeit macht frei’ or ‘Work Sets You Free,’ a Nazi slogan that appeared on the gates of Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Similarly, in Michigan, people held signs on April 30 that likened Governor Gretchen Whitmer to a Nazi. “

The report acknowledged that although “extremists may be in the minority among actual attendees, these rallies are important opportunities for extremists to connect and develop new networks, and to lay the groundwork for future extremist activity.”

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “Extremists and conspiracy theorists often use protests or rallies to disseminate their beliefs, and that has certainly been the case at nationwide demonstrations against #COVID19 restrictions.”

Extremists and conspiracy theorists often use protests or rallies to disseminate their beliefs, and that has certainly been the case at nationwide demonstrations against #COVID19 restrictions. Our experts report on what they're seeing: https://t.co/CZroaBqN1m

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 4, 2020