ST PAUL – On Sep 10th, the Minnesota DFL released a statement condemning Minnesota GOP candidate Erica Schwartz – running for a competitive state House seat in the Mankato area against Rep. Jeff Brand (DFL-18A) – for her outrageous claims that the Minnesota DFL is leading us down the path of another Holocaust.

“It is outrageous that a candidate for elected office believes that free school meals and abortion rights are a first step on the path to another Holocaust,” said DFL Chairman Ken Martin. “Trivializing the crimes of the Holocaust is as dangerous as it is insensitive. Behind closed doors, Erica Schwartz has made it clear that she will be a divisive and partisan bomb-thrower who demonizes her enemies if she wins in November.”

Jewish groups like the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota (JCRC) have made it very clear that such comparisons are “wildly inappropriate.”

From the story:

Schwartz on the DFL & the Holocaust: “It was heartbreaking to see, but it’s also very much part of our ugly history that we have to remember to never do that again,” Schwartz said of the Holocaust. “And I just feel like we’re heading right back to all of that with what’s going on with the DFL, and what’s been going on with our country, with it being all Democratic from our president, all the way from our governor to our representatives in the state House.”

JCRC Response: Ethan Roberts, deputy director of Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota, said this isn’t the first time candidates or elected officials have made “wildly inappropriate” comparisons to the Holocaust…“Whatever it is that you’re upset about, whatever it is that you think that our country is wrestling with, it’s not the Holocaust,” Roberts said.