George Floyd Gets His Own Exhibit - at a Holocaust Museum

A Florida Holocaust museum has made a most unusual choice: It’s included a piece of history wholly unrelated to the Holocaust.

The city of Maitland’s remembrance of the mass murder of millions of Jews took a noted November turn with an undeniably American addition.

Orlando’s WKMG reported:

A new exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center…features powerful and inspiring photos taken in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

The outlet recalled the summer story:

Floyd, a Black man, was killed on May 25 when a white officer spent more than eight minutes with his knee pinned to Floyd’s neck in Minneapolis after Floyd reportedly used counterfeit cash to buy cigarettes from a convenience store.

Speaking to News 6, Assistant Executive Director Lisa Bachman praised the power of the installation:

“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.”

As noted by the Washington Examiner, the exhibit features 45 images of people reacting to George’s passing.

A news release offered a quote from photographer John Noltner:

“The world is complex. Historical wounds are deep. In all the heated rhetoric of the day, we forget to listen. I hope that through these stories and these faces, you can understand the events of our day in a new way. I hope you can challenge some of your own preconceptions and I hope you can see the humanity of each and every person. When I photograph a person—no matter who they are—I strive to leave a simple message: I see you. I hear you. And you matter.”

For John, it’s personal:

“When George Floyd was killed that happened 11.6 miles north of my house and I knew with the piece of my mind’s goal being to hear voices that aren’t always heard as well as they should be. I knew that I wanted to go to that site.”

However, it appears the inclusion is personal for others, too — and some of them, negatively so.

Count Rebel News’s Ezra Levant as one.

To his way of thinking, there’s no equal fit. And the comparison, he tweeted, suggests American police officers are akin to the Third Reich:

“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.”

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. pic.twitter.com/zNsG0bqyEe

— Ezra Levant 🍁 (@ezralevant) November 22, 2020

As relayed by The Daily Wire, radio host Dan O’Donnell took a rougher approach:

“A Holocaust museum added a George Floyd exhibit because we live in a world of idiots where words no longer have meaning.”

Call columnist Caroline Glick’s reaction a combination of the two:

“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.”

Former British politician Martin Daubney said such a display’s a good idea — if placed elsewhere:

“Unbelievable: the Holocaust Museum in Maitland, Florida has added a George Floyd section. To align Floyd’s tragic death with the massacre of 6million Jews is hugely insensitive. But it’s also political: it positions 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. Its politicizing and positioning is all wrong.”

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 politicising and positioning is all wrong

— Martin Daubney (@MartinDaubney) November 22, 2020