Anti-vaxxers have been called out for comparing Covid to the Holocaust.
Over the past year or so, there has been a growing trend among Covid deniers and sceptics to make links between political decisions made during the pandemic to Nazi Germany - most notably vaccine documentation.
But the Auschwitz Memorial has spoken out after a US politician criticised rules in the District of Columbia that require residents wear masks and have proof of vaccination.
Replying to a tweet from Muriel Bowser, the Mayor of Washington, D.C. about the mandate, Ohio Congressman Warren Davidson shared a photo of a health card issued to a young woman during the Nazi regime.
Posting the picture, Davidson said: "This has been done before. #DoNotComply."
He later expanded on the post in the comments, writing: "Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them."
However, the link was deemed highly offensive by the Auschwitz Memorial, which preserves the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where more than one million Jewish men, women and children were brutally murdered during the Holocaust.
Commenting on the post, a spokesperson for the centre said Davidson was 'exploiting' the unimaginable brutality Jews experienced at the hands of the Nazis.
They said: "Exploiting of the tragedy of all people who between 1933-45 suffered, were humiliated, tortured and murdered by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany in a debate about vaccines and covid limitations in the time of global pandemic is a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decay."
Since posting the reply, hundreds of people have come out in support of the Auschwitz Memorial, praising them for calling out Davidson.
One user wrote: "Thank you for preserving the memory of these horrors. And for standing up to those who mock it with these comparisons."
Echoing the shock, another commented: "The comparison is awful, and any one who matters knows it."
"Agreed. 100 percent. It's absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable," put a third.
While another added: "Perfectly put. It's a shame you have to say it."
Davidson has since come out and apologised following the backlash, though he seemed to double down on his analogy and did not delete the offensive tweet.
He said: "For my Jewish friends, and all others, my sincere apologies."
The politician went on to say that the was trying to point out how 'bad things happen when governments dehumanise people'.
"Sometimes, there is a next step - to systematically segregate them," he said.
"Unfortunately, any reference to how the Nazis actually did that prevents a focus on anything other than the Holocaust.
"I appreciate my Jewish friends who have explained their perspectives and feel horrible that I have offended anyone.
"My sincere apologies."
You can find out more about the Auschwitz Memorial here.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Coronavirus, US News, Politics, Health
Dominic Smithers