ALERT: US Holocaust Museum Responds After Tim Walz Invokes Anne Frank’s Name, Calls Exploiting Holocaust ‘Deeply Offensive’
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz drew sharp criticism after likening U.S. immigration enforcement actions to Nazi-era persecution, saying children in Minnesota were “hiding in their houses” and comparing the situation to Anne Frank’s story following the shooting death of anti-ICE activist alex Pretti, who reportedly clashed with Border patrol agents while armed.
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum called the analogy “deeply offensive,” saying anne Frank was murdered solely because she was Jewish and that false equivalencies to the Holocaust for political purposes are unacceptable. Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the State Department’s anti‑Semitism envoy, also condemned the comparison as historically inaccurate and harmful.
In response to unrest in Minneapolis, President Trump announced he is sending border czar Tom Homan to the city and said he spoke with Walz about cooperating to remove criminal illegal immigrants. Reports indicate some Border Patrol personnel may soon leave Minnesota; ICE and Border Patrol are separate agencies. The controversy highlights criticism of invoking Holocaust imagery amid rising antisemitism.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., issued a statement on Monday in effect calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s comparison of U.S. immigration enforcement operations to Nazi Germany “deeply offensive.”
Walz made the connection on Sunday, following the shooting death of 37-year-old anti-ICE agitator Alex Pretti, who got in a skirmish with Border Patrol agents while armed.
“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota,” the governor said.
“And there’s one person who can end this now,” he added, referring to President Donald Trump.
🚨🚨 Tim Walz claimed yesterday that a child in Minnesota is going to write the same story about ICE operations that Anne Frank did about the Nazi occupation.
“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story… pic.twitter.com/QYJfUrAkL9
— Nicole Silverio (@NicoleMSilverio) January 26, 2026
Anne Frank was a Jewish teenage girl who wrote a diary of her and her family’s experience in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. After two years of being in hiding, the family was discovered. Anne died in a concentration camp in February 1945, months before the end of the war in Europe. Anne’s mother and sister, Edith and Margot, also died in concentration camps.
Only her father, Otto, survived the war after being liberated from Auschwitz.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum posted on social media in response to Walz’s comments, “Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges.”
Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish. Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable. Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges. pic.twitter.com/VVg0Uy7kjR
— US Holocaust Museum (@HolocaustMuseum) January 26, 2026
Walz’s comments also drew criticism from Trump’s anti-Semitism envoy at the State Department, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, who posted on X, “Ignorance like this cheapens the horror of the Holocaust. 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.”
Ignorance like this cheapens the horror of the Holocaust. 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… https://t.co/apOWNLE7Bv
— Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun (@StateSEAS) January 26, 2026
Kaploun concluded, “Our brave law enforcement should be commended, not tarred with this historically illiterate and antisemitic comparison.”
On Monday, Trump announced that he is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis in response to the ongoing civil unrest in the city.
The president also noted the same day he had a “very good call” with Walz regarding working together to remove criminal illegal aliens from the state.
Donald J. Trump Post 11:37 AM EST 01.26.26
Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call…
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 26, 2026
He added, “We, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
The Daily Wire’s Cameron Arcand reported that Walz’s office confirmed the call and that Trump agreed to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota.
Fox News correspondent Bill Mellugin posted on X, “Multiple federal sources confirm to @FoxNews that Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino & some, not all Border Patrol agents, will be leaving the state of Minnesota imminently.”
ICE agents are separate from Border Patrol.
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