ZOA’s Morton Klein said, “It’s a painful disgrace for Cohen to compare the monstrous, earth-shattering massacre of six million innocent Jews to the tragic deaths of two individuals, who were illegally obstructing the legal work of law enforcement officers…”
By JNS Staff
(Jan. 27, 2026 / JNS) Hours after the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington said, without mentioning Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz by name, that it was inappropriate to compare people in the state to Anne Frank, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) referred to two civilians killed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “righteous among the nations” on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The term “righteous among the nations” is one that Yad Vashem-The World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem and others use to refer to those who “mustered extraordinary courage to uphold human values, risking their lives to save Jews by hiding them in their homes, providing false papers and assisting their escape” during the Holocaust.
The congressman, who is Jewish, stated that he “today recognized Tuesday’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day by calling Renee Good and Alex Pretti, killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis for standing up for a just cause, just like the ‘righteousness among the nations’ who saved Jews from the Holocaust.” (The congressman used the word “righteousness” rather than “righteous.”)
“He noted that the painter Marc Chagall credited the ‘righteous’ non-Jews for saving his life after he fled to Marseille during the Second World War,” Cohen’s office stated. “The Nazi assaults, like current ICE outrages, are being conducted by agents of government.”
“Every year, we recall the loss of the millions killed by Nazis during the Second World War, a holocaust of innocent humanity unlike anything in history,” Cohen stated. “We may not always remember the heroes of that period, those who stood up despite immense personal danger and in defiance of real evil, to protect innocent people they barely knew.”
“In recent days, we have seen what Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, calls ‘the righteousness of the nations’ stand up to the inhumane, uncivilized and brutish attacks on peaceful protestors by the immoral ICE raids in Minneapolis,” the Jewish Democrat added. “Renee Good and Alex Pretti were exercising their right to object to the lawlessness and are now dead. They are, on this Day of Remembrance, among ‘the righteousness of the nations’ and will be forever remembered for their exemplary sacrifice.”
Yad Vashem stated that Cohen’s use of the term “‘righteous among the nations’ misrepresents both history and the specific purpose of the title.”
“While recent events in Minnesota are tragic, such historical distortions—no matter what the purpose—are deeply concerning, particularly on International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Yad Vashem said. “The ‘righteous’ honor is meant to convey gratitude to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, the darkest chapter in modern history and a period of unprecedented genocide and widespread indifference.”
“We expect all persons of conscience, certainly political leaders in democracies, to refrain from such irresponsible and misleading inaccuracies,” it added.
Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America and the child of Holocaust survivors, told JNS that “it’s a painful disgrace for Cohen to compare the monstrous, earth-shattering massacre of six million innocent Jews to the tragic deaths of two individuals, who were illegally obstructing the legal work of law enforcement officers trying to protect legal American citizens by their removing dangerous, illegal alien criminals, rapists and murderers from America.”
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum stated on Tuesday that it “calls for the abuse and exploitation of Holocaust memory to stop.”
“The abuse and exploitation of Holocaust memory have become alarmingly commonplace, emanating from leaders across the political spectrum, celebrities, cultural influencers and the general public,” the museum said. “It must stop, and leaders from all parts of our society must lead.”
“This abuse is deeply offensive to Holocaust survivors, who are now in the final years of their lives. That alone should be sufficient. But we must never forget it presents a danger to all of society,” it stated. “When everything becomes the Holocaust, its particular warnings about the dangers of unchecked antisemitism and other forms of group-targeted hate, the power of propaganda and the fragility of democracy are lost.”
“Holocaust history has the power to teach vital, timeless lessons about why our choices matter, but only when it is approached with the precision, historical integrity and respect it rightfully deserves,” it added.
In the past, Cohen has apologized for comparing Republicans to Nazis. He has also accused Republicans of minimizing the Holocaust. He has also compared U.S. immigration enforcement to Nazis.
Walz, the Minnesota governor and former Democratic nominee for U.S. vice president, said that people in his state, where federal law enforcement is engaged, are having experiences like Anne Frank did under the Nazis in Amsterdam.
“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside,” he said on Sunday at a press conference. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank.”
“Somebody’s gonna write that children’s story about Minnesota,” he said, alongside Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney general.
Yehuda Kaploun, a rabbi and U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism at the State Department, stated that “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,” he wrote. “Her story has nothing to do with the illegal immigration, fraud and lawlessness plaguing Minnesota today.”
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum didn’t mention Walz by name, but it stated on Monday that “Anne Frank was targeted and murdered solely because she was Jewish.”
“Leaders making false equivalencies to her experience for political purposes is never acceptable,” it said. “Despite tensions in Minneapolis, exploiting the Holocaust is deeply offensive, especially as antisemitism surges.”
This article was originally published by JNS and can be viewed here.