The Scoop

Holocaust Museum In Florida Triggers Backlash After Adding George Floyd Exhibit

By • November 23, 2020 11:00 am

A Holocaust Museum in Florida has recently triggered backlash on social media after it opened an exhibit honoring George Floyd, whose death in the custody of Minneapolis police last May sparked months of social unrest across the country.

“A new exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center in Maitland features powerful and inspiring photos taken in the wake of George Floyd’s death,” local media Orlando 6 reported.

It noted that photographer,  John Nolter, went to the exact location where Floyd was arrested by law enforcement in Minneapolis to capture images of protesters “who refused to let Floyd’s name be forgotten.”

Nolter’s exhibit titled “Uprooting Prejudice: Faces of Change”  opened last November 2 at the Holocaust center in Maitland.

“You don’t just see this exhibit. You feel it. The expressions and thoughts of each person photographed tells a story that has a very universal message. It is one that can heal and bring us together. It shows us we are not alone in our thinking,” Lisa Bachman, assistant executive director of The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, online and in social media, news of an exhibit honoring Floyd at the museum drew ire  — many lashing at how the move was “disrespectful” to the victims of the Holocaust.

“George Floyd is added to a Holocaust museum? That trivializes and distorts the Holocaust and its six million Jewish victims. And it grotesquely implies that American police are Nazis,” Ezra Levant, founder of Rebel News, wrote.

Israel Hayom Columnist Caroline Glick said the move “turned the annihilation of European Jewry into a farce.”

“The Florida Holocaust museum at a JCC in Orlando has taken a huge step towards transforming the annihilation of European Jewry into a farce. This is a travesty, an insult to the Jewish people throughout history. And I fear it is just a taste of the madness to come,” she said.

Another comment said: “My grandparents Elias and Felicia Friedman (Of Blessed Memory) survived the Holocaust, founded the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation and played an instrumental role in opening this museum. This exhibit should find an alternate location and not this museum. Very troubling.”

“Needless to say, it’s an assault on Americans as well,” another user said.

“There are no words. Disturbingly wrong to have “memorial” to Mr Floyd in the Holocaust Museum.Who is responsible & how did it get accepted?The NAACP might wish to arrange or suggest a memorial site more befitting of Mr George’s life & death,” another comment read.

Former British politician Martin Daubney also commented saying: “Unbelievable: the Holocaust Museum in Maitland, Florida has added a George Floyd section to align Floyd’s tragic death with the massacre of 6 million Jews is hugely insensitive but it’s also political.”

“It positions the police as Nazis. Awful decision. There absolutely is a place for this photographic memorial to Floyd. The images have merit, its creator is well-intentioned & America is a free country. But not at this location. That’s all I’m saying. It’s politicizing and positioning is all wrong,” Daubney, who served as a Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020 added.

Steeve Strange

Steeve is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Scoop.
Email
Read Steeve Strange's latest articles.