(Photo by NCinDC)

In response to a conference of white nationalists in D.C., the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum called on Americans to take a stand against racism and hate speech. The museum issued a strongly worded reminder: “The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words.”

The National Policy Institute’s event on Saturday included a chilling array of Nazi references at the Ronald Reagan Building, which is located about a half mile away from the Holocaust Museum.

The Arlington-based think tank has hosted controversial conferences in D.C. before. NPI President Richard Spencer told DCist last year that it “is about people meeting up, not just being an anonymous Twitter handle but building community.” But this year’s event came after white nationalists have said that Donald Trump’s election and his ensuing choices in transition team and cabinet members is “like Christmas.”

Emboldened, NPI wrote ahead of the conference that “the past 12 months might be remembered as the year of Donald Trump . . . and the year of the Alt Right.”

At a dinner before the conference, reality star Tila Tequila and others gave the Heil Hitler salute (the restaurant, Maggiano’s, said they “inadvertently” hosted the meeting and have donated the night’s profits to the Anti-Defamation League). But that was only the beginning.

According to the New York Times, on Saturday, “Spencer railed against Jews and, with a smile, quoted Nazi propaganda in the original German. America, he said, belonged to white people, whom he called the ‘children of the sun,’ a race of conquerors and creators who had been marginalized but now, in the era of President-elect Donald J. Trump, were ‘awakening to their own identity.'”

The Holocaust Museum pointed out the parallels to Nazi Germany, writing of their deep alarm: “The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words.”

The museum’s full statement:

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is deeply alarmed at the hateful rhetoric at a conference of white nationalists held on November 19 at the Ronald Reagan Building just blocks from the Museum.

According to press reports, Richard Spencer, the leader of the National Policy Institute – a white nationalist think tank – that sponsored the conference, made several direct and indirect references to Jews and other minorities, often alluding to Nazism. He spoke in German to quote Nazi propaganda and refer to the mainstream media. He implied that the media was protecting Jewish interests and said, “One wonders if these people are people at all?” He said that America belongs to white people. His statement that white people face a choice of “conquer or die” closely echoes Adolf Hitler’s view of Jews and that history is a racial struggle for survival.

The targeting of Jews was central to Nazi racist ideology. The Germans attempted to kill every Jewish man, woman and child they could find. Nazi racism extended to other groups. By the end of World War II, the Germans and their collaborators had murdered six million Jews and millions of other innocent civilians, many of whom were targeted for racial reasons.

The Holocaust did not begin with killing; it began with words. The Museum calls on all American citizens, our religious and civic leaders, and the leadership of all branches of the government to confront racist thinking and divisive hateful speech.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, a living memorial to the Holocaust, inspires citizens and leaders to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by donors nationwide. Learn more at ushmm.org.