Donald Trump and maga Republicans to buy warehouses to keep immigrants are a throwback to purposeful evil

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (aka "evil ICE") and the queen of evil Kristi Noem want to purchase warehouses to put innocent immigrants into unauthorized prisons. This eerie proposal sounds like Auschwitz-Birkenau in the making 

Echo essay and opinion by Armstrong Williams, published in The Baltimore Sun newspaper: "Holding it felt like holding something profoundly evil," Elliott Broidy.

Preserving proof: Acquiring ‘profoundly evil’ Auschwitz-Birkenau whiteprint: Elliott and Robin Broidy discuss $1.5 million purchase.

Florida-based philanthropist and businessman Elliott Broidy, joined by his wife, Robin, speaks with The Baltimore Sun about acquiring for $1.5 million an original 1941, whiteprint of the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoria, a document that embodies the calculated architecture of genocide during the Holocaust.

The preservation of this whiteprint is more than historical stewardship. It is an act of resistance against denial, distortion and forgetfulness. Primary evidence anchors collective memory, and a healthy democracy depends on shared facts. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Philanthropist and Holocaust history preserver Elliott Broidy & his wife, Robin, acquired an original 1941, white print of the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoria. (Courtesy of Elliott & Robin Broidy)

What is the historical significance of this original whiteprint❓

Elliott Broidy: This document is the front elevation of the crematoria building at Auschwitz-Birkenau, dated Oct. 24, 1941. It was created by SS architect Walter Dejaco under the direction of commandant Rudolf Höss. It shows the size, scale and smokestack of the structure — the physical infrastructure that would become central to industrialized murder.

This was not spontaneous evil. It was engineered: deliberate, technical, bureaucratic. It reflects the earliest architectural conception of how a prison complex evolved into a mechanized killing site. That precision is what makes it so chilling.

Why did you feel compelled to secure it❓

EB: Only two such documents are known to exist. One was last documented in Russia in 1991. When this surfaced, I believed it needed to be preserved, not hidden or lost to private hands.

It demonstrates the intentionality behind genocide, how ideology became design and design became machinery. It exposes the cold, administrative nature of what occurred. It is proof not only of horror, but of planning.

How did it survive from 1945, until now❓

EB: A rabbi in California received it years ago. It had reportedly been purchased at a neo-Nazi gathering in Germany, without full awareness of its historical weight.

We believe someone originally removed it from an architectural office at Auschwitz and concealed it. Decades later, it resurfaced. When it was examined by a former director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the October 1941, date immediately signaled its importance; it placed the design at a critical early phase of the camp’s transformation.

Did you wrestle with the moral weight of acquiring something so disturbing❓

EB: Yes. Holding it felt like holding something profoundly evil. It gave both of us chills. There was a physical reaction as though we were holding a hot coal.

But preserving it is necessary. Holocaust denial persists. Historical distortion spreads easily in the digital age. This is primary evidence — tangible, undeniable documentation.

Ultimately, we intend for it to reside in a museum, likely Auschwitz-Birkenau, where it can be preserved properly and displayed for education.

You support the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism, and Radicalization at the former home of Rudolf Höss. What does transforming that home represent?

Robin Broidy: It is reclamation. That house, once occupied by the commandant overseeing mass murder, now serves as a center confronting extremism.

If this whiteprint was designed there, displaying it at House 88 would carry enormous symbolic weight, turning a place of planning into a place of truth-telling.

It demonstrates how ordinary settings and seemingly ordinary lives can coexist with unimaginable evil. That warning is not confined to the past.

With antisemitism rising globally, are artifacts like this essential proof points❓

EB: Yes. Polls show disturbing gaps in Holocaust knowledge among young people. At the same time, denial and antisemitism are increasing.

Primary-source artifacts confront falsehood with fact. They ground education in documentation rather than narrative. In an era when truth is contested, evidence matters more than ever.

“Never again” is often said. What does meaningful action look like beyond the slogan?

EB: Elie Wiesel once amended the phrase by saying, “Sometimes we must interfere.” Memory alone is not sufficient.

Hatred begins with rhetoric. It spreads through propaganda. It hardens into dehumanization. Left unchecked, it escalates from words to violence to mass murder.

Action means education. It means speaking truth early. It means refusing to normalize extremism.

What conversations have you had with your family about this acquisition❓

RB: We’ve spoken with our children about understanding history and supporting education that combats hate. This is not solely a Jewish issue. It is about preserving moral clarity and democratic values.

We want future generations of all faiths to understand the consequences of indifference and the importance of responsibility.

When history judges this era of rising extremism, what do you hope your philanthropy will have contributed?

EB: Education. Maimonides taught that the highest form of charity is anonymous. Yet sometimes visibility encourages others to act.

If our work inspires even a few people to resist hatred, protect truth, and strengthen interfaith understanding, it will have mattered.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.