London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

The Auschwitz Memorial Condemned An Anti-Lockdown Sign That Bore A Slogan From The Concentration Camp

The Auschwitz Memorial Condemned An Anti-Lockdown Sign That Bore A Slogan From The Concentration Camp

The phrase "Arbeit macht frei" translates to "work will set you free" and was used on the gates of Auschwitz.

The Auschwitz Memorial in Poland has condemned a viral photo of a sign from an anti-lockdown protest in Chicago on Friday that bore a phrase from the Nazi concentration camp.

The sign reading "Arbeit macht frei, JB" was held by an unidentified woman at a "Re-Open Illinois" protest in the city's Loop district and addressed to Gov. J.B. Prtizker, who is Jewish. "Arbeit macht frei" translates from German to "work will set you free" and was used on the gates of Auschwitz, where at least 1.1 million people died during the Holocaust.

The photo was taken at around 12:30 p.m. by nurse Dennis Kosuth, who attended the event as a counter-protester.

Kosuth said several anti-lockdown demonstrators were trying to provoke him and other nurses by claiming they were actors or that the death toll from the coronavirus was not accurate. "My approach was to ignore people," he told BuzzFeed News in a phone interview on Saturday, "but then I saw her sign and said, 'That's pretty messed up. Why would you bring that here?'"

According to Kosuth, the woman defended her sign and said she had Jewish friends.

Kosuth, who lost a friend and colleague to the coronavirus this week, said he was disgusted by the sign.

"How dare you compare the Holocaust to a stay at home order?" he said.

Kosuth shared the image on Twitter on Thursday where it was shared more than 14,000 times.


Among those who shared it were staff at the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland, who said it "painful to see this symbol instrumentalized and used again to spread hate."

According to the museum, the sign was placed at five concentration camps - Auschwitz, Dachau, Flossenbürg, Gross-Rosen, and Sachsenhausen - as well as in the Theresienstadt Ghetto.


Kosuth was unaware of the memorial's response until his interview with BuzzFeed News, but he said he agreed "100% with that statement."

"I'm glad in that sense that this picture has gotten out here because it shows the dark side of history," he said.

There appeared to be some confusion on social media as to whether the sign was real.

In a post Friday, the Associate Press said that a viral photo of a sign citing the "Nazi slogan that translates to 'Work Sets You Free'" was altered and originally read "Free Small Business!"

But an AP spokesperson made clear to BuzzFeed News that its fact check was in reference to a sign from a Pittsburgh protest on April 20, not Kosuth's from Chicago.

Kosuth denied that his image was altered, and said he took it with his own phone.


He provided BuzzFeed News with the live photo which showed the woman moving while holding the sign as another woman shouted "the gates of Auschwitz."


Signs bearing Nazi imagery and phrases have appeared at other anti-lockdown protests, including one in Springfield, Illinois, on Friday, and in Michigan last month.


Asked why he thought his photo had gone viral, Kosuth responded, "I think a lot of people don't like Nazis - and that gives me hope."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×