With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

U.S. Extremist Blames 'Compliant' Jews for Holocaust in Idaho Protest

In a protest against coronavirus restrictions in Idaho on Saturday, anti-government extremist and militia leader Ammon Bundy blamed Jews for their fate in the Holocaust, saying their mass murder happened because they were too compliant to government authorities.

“Just look at the pictures of the Holocaust,” Bundy told the crowd gathered at the steps of the State Capitol building in Boise, at an “Idaho Is Open For Business” rally. “It always amazes me how you see pictures of men and women stripped completely naked, lined up and facing a mass grave, where they are shooting them in the back of the head and falling in the grave.”

Bundy then asked why the Jews “would line up knowing” what their fate would be.

“You must ask yourself: Why did the Jewish people not – how did they get in that position? I’m not someone to be a judge of another people, but we must learn from history. Because they thought that putting their head down and trying to not be noticed was the better way. They thought that compliance would get them through it, and it was just a period of time that they might just pass through and end up better on the other end.

Read entire article at Haaretz