Almost 150 historians who specialize in genocide are asking the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to retract its statement condemning the use of Holocaust analogies when describing inhumane conditions in migrant detention centers. The scholars penned an open letter on Monday acknowledging support for the museum in Washington, D.C., but also expressing concern regarding its June 24 statement. “The Museum’s decision to completely reject drawing any possible analogies to the Holocaust, or to the events leading up to it, is fundamentally ahistorical,” read the letter, published in the New York Review of Books. “It has the potential to inflict severe damage on the Museum’s ability to continue its role as a credible, leading global institution dedicated to Holocaust memory, Holocaust education, and research in the field of Holocaust and genocide studies,” the letter stated.

Proud to be a signatory. This is a hugely powerful statement. The list of signatories contains a literal "Who's who?" of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. While there are certainly scholars who disagree, this statement makes the analogy a widely-held view.https://t.co/y2dmLnO52S — Dr. Waitman Wade Beorn (@waitmanb) July 1, 2019