No, this isn’t what the Nazis did

ommack, L.I.: As a child survivor of the Holocaust, I found Voicer Ron Goldman’s comments comparing Mayor de Blasio’s vaccination mandates to Nazi Germany disgraceful. Having to provide proof of being vaccinated to gyms, eateries and entertainment events is a far cry from being forced to wear a yellow Star of David with the word “Jew” written on it in public as a form of humiliation, discrimination and isolation.

After the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, Dutch government officials had to sign affidavits that neither they, their wives, nor their grandparents were Jewish; Jews were not allowed in government positions; all Jews residing in the Netherlands had to register with the German authorities; a ghetto was established in Amsterdam; all Jewish assets were blocked and confiscated; Jewish businesses were closed; Jewish newspapers were shut down; Jewish children were expelled from public schools and universities; forced-labor camps for Jews were established; they were limited to shopping between the hours of 3 and 5 p.m. and had to observe a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.; Jews were forbidden to use public transportation, own telephones or visit the homes of non-Jews.

Mr. Goldman, I very much doubt that anti-vaxxers will be stripped of their citizenship, deported to concentration camps in some foreign land and murdered in a gas chamber. You have a choice: You can get one of the vaccines that will help curtail the spread of deadly COVID-19 or be inconvenienced by being excluded from enclosed public places. My maternal grandparents, their disabled adult son and more than 50 members of their extended family weren’t given a choice. They couldn’t change their ethnicity and were killed because of it.