“I never knew I would see this with my own eyes,” said Mueller. “But we must be aware and be prepared to intervene.”
Mueller was born in Germany, and his great-grandmother fought in the resistance against the Nazis during the thirties and forties.
Her personal story forced her to speak out against the use of the hate symbol, she told Don Lemon on CNN tonight. “I thought to myself that if I don’t say something now, what did my great-grandmother risk her life for all those years fighting the first wave of Nazis?”
When they saw the unidentified man and woman reviewing their purchases with swastika masks hanging on their faces, Ruesch began confronting and recording the couple. “You are sick … you have an illness,” he told them as the unidentified woman seemed to pose for the camera.
“You can’t wear that mask. You can’t. We literally had a war over this,” he continued. “You are wearing a swastika!”
The woman wearing the mask replied, “I am not a Nazi. I am trying to show you what will happen in America. If you vote for (Joe) Biden, you will be in Nazi Germany. That is what will happen.” be like. “The man with her added:” We are living under a socialist state. “
“That was one of the most shocking parts of all of this,” Mueller explained, “that I was so proud to wear a mask like that.”
She said other shoppers for the most part kept their heads down and tried to ignore the situation with the exception of one man who intervened.
Neither Walmart nor authorities identified the couple.
The mayor says the incident does not reflect the city
“The incident that unfolded on Saturday was only a small snapshot and does not reflect the full picture of Marshall,” Mayor Bob Byrnes said in a statement Monday, WCCO reported.
“We were surprised that it took place anywhere in Minnesota. It is unfortunate that it happened in our community,” Byrnes told the affiliate.
Byrnes said the couple is not part of any hate group and will not face legal problems, WCCO reported.
“We strive to provide a safe and comfortable shopping environment for all of our customers and we will not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in any aspect of our business,” said Garcia. “We are asking everyone to put on face covers when they enter our stores for their safety and the safety of others and it is unfortunate that some people have taken this pandemic as an opportunity to create a distressing situation for customers and associates in our store. “
The couple has been kicked out of Walmart for a year, Garcia added.
Anti-Semitic attacks on the rise in the U.S.
More than 2,100 acts of assault, vandalism and harassment were reported last year, according to the ADL, which has been tracking these incidents since 1979. An anti-Semitic incident audit published in May showed a 12% increase in incidents and a 56% increase. % in assaults in 2019.
“This was an unprecedented year of anti-Semitic activity, a time when many Jewish communities across the country had direct encounters with hate,” ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in the May statement. “We are committed to fighting this growing wave of hatred and will double our work with elected leaders, schools and communities to end the cycle of hatred.”
But despite attempts to educate the public about Holocaust atrocities, as well as discrimination and danger faced by Jews in the US and around the world, a swastika mask still appeared on the faces of two people at a Minnesota Walmart.
“Trauma has been shown to be transmitted in DNA, so I know I am carrying what my great-grandmother went through,” Mueller told CNN. “I didn’t lose anyone to the Holocaust, but I know that many other people did. So just the fact that they have to see this is heartbreaking.”
Mueller said he believes the woman in the store may not have known exactly what that mask represents, and others still don’t understand how painful the swastika is.
“It is also very evident that she does not understand the difference between socialism and democratic socialism and national socialism,” said Mueller. “I also have a feeling that I may not fully understand how offensive that symbol is to a lot of people.”
Mueller said that while he has received a great deal of support from people on social media, he cannot believe that something like this is still happening.
“There have been so many incidents and so many people have shared their story and said how much it hurts them to see symbols like this,” Mueller explained. “And they’re still not listening. So honestly, I have no words there.”
CNN’s Alicia Lee contributed to this report.
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