Demonstrators waved Nazi flags outside 'The Diary of Anne Frank' production in Michigan

HOWELL, Mich. — Masked demonstrators wearing white supremacist symbols waved Nazi flags and shouted hateful slurs outside a community theater during a performance of "The Diary of Anne Frank" in Michigan, officials said.

A small group of demonstrators holding Nazi flags and American flags with white supremacist symbols gathered outside of American Legion Post 141 in Howell, Michigan, on Saturday, the veterans organization said in a video posted on social media. The organization was hosting a local production of "The Diary of Anne Frank," a stage adaptation of Anne Frank’s posthumously published book.

The Fowlerville Community Theater troupe, which staged the play, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday. The troupe said it became "aware of the presence of self-identified Nazi protesters" while they were performing the first act of the play and were told that the situation was under control.

The protestors were moved off the property and the audience was notified of the situation during the intermission out of caution, according to the troupe.

"For this production, our cast was also on stage in character during intermission, which was when they found out as well. Although some were understandably shaken, they pulled together and finished the performance with strength and professionalism," the troupe said. "This production centers on real people who lost their lives in the Holocaust, and we have endeavored to tell their story with as much realism as possible."

"On Saturday evening, things became more real than we expected; The presence of protesters outside gave us a small glimpse of the fear and uncertainty felt by those in hiding," the troupe added. "As a theatre, we want to make people feel and think. We hope that by presenting Anne's story, we can help prevent the atrocities of the past from happening again."

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What happened at the demonstration?

The Livingston County Sheriff's Office said there were about five demonstrators outside the American Legion Post 141 on Saturday. The demonstrators had initially pulled into the organization's parking lot but were asked to leave the property, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies spoke with the demonstrators, who left the area shortly after people began video recording them, the sheriff's office added. No arrests were made.

"The demonstrators then went across the street and waved flags adorned with Nazi insignia," the sheriff's office said in a news release. "A subject then approached them and an argument ensued. Nothing physical transpired and ultimately the parties involved separated."

A member of American Legion Post 141 told WLNS-TV that the organization thought the play would be educational amid reports of rising antisemitism. The organization went live on Facebook on Saturday, filming the demonstrators being confronted by deputies and one demonstrator can be heard telling deputies they're protecting their right to free speech.

Witnesses said the demonstrators were also heard shouting antisemitic and racist slurs. Bobby Brite, a former commander of the American Legion Post 141, told WXYZ TV he recorded the incident and that when he confronted the demonstrators, they shouted hateful slurs at him.

"People were shocked. They were appalled," he told the television station. "We had 75 people downstairs that watched that play and out of that 75, there were 50 or 60 of them that were afraid to leave this building. We had to escort them to their cars. No one in America should feel like that."

Howell, a city with over 10,000 residents in Livingston County, is about 55 miles northwest of Detroit. Livingston County has seen similar displays of antisemitism and racism this year.

Another four demonstrators were seen Saturday waving Nazi flags in Fowlerville, a village about 10 miles from Howell.

In July, about a dozen demonstrators waving Nazi flags marched through Howell, chanting "Heil Hitler." Later that day, a second demonstration took place at an overpass and demonstrators could be heard in a video chanting: "We love Hitler. We love Trump."

In August, a similar demonstration occurred in Brighton — a city just southeast of Howell. Several local businesses publicly condemned the demonstration.

What is 'The Diary of Anne Frank'?

"The Diary of Anne Frank" is based on the writings of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who kept a diary while her family hid from the Nazis during their occupation of the Netherlands. The family was arrested in 1944, and Frank later died of typhus in a concentration camp.

Her diaries were retrieved and given to the family's only survivor, her father Otto Frank, after the war ended. It's since been published in more than 70 languages.

The diary has since been adapted into several film and stage productions. The writings are often assigned to students in middle and high schools as an introduction to the Holocaust during World War II.

Incident condemned by advocacy organizations

The incident was condemned by the Michigan chapter of the American Defamation League (ADL), an advocacy group focused on combatting antisemitism.

"We are disgusted by the far-right extremists who praised Hitler and waved Nazi flags outside of an American Legion hosting the play 'The Diary of Anne Frank,' and we stand with American Legion 141 and (Howell Township) who know that hate doesn't belong in their community," the ADL said in a statement Monday on X.

The Michigan Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also spoke out against the demonstration.

"We condemn this display of neo-Nazi hate and join all those speaking out against the rising bigotry and societal division we are witnessing nationwide," CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement on Tuesday. "All such attempts to promote racism, antisemitism or any other form of bigotry must be repudiated by local, state and national religious and political leaders."

Walid also noted that CAIR has "repeatedly condemned neo-Nazi activity nationwide," the organization said in a news release.

Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents have surged across the U.S. since the attacks on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7 of last year. The ADL documented more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the year following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, USA TODAY previously reported.

At the same time, CAIR reported that anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian complaints topped 8,000 in 2023, with nearly half of these complaints reported in the final three months of the year. Within the first six months of 2024, nearly 5,000 complaints of discrimination were documented by the organization.

Contributing: Dan Basso, Lansing State Journal; Sara Chernikoff, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anne Frank play: Nazi flags waved outside Michigan community theater