WNY Jewish community outraged over comments made during a Williamsville board meeting

WILLIAMSVILLE N.Y. (WIVB) — The Jewish community in Western New York is speaking out after multiple comments were made during a Williamsville board meeting, in which they say the board compared the state’s health regulations to the Holocaust.

Officials from the Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo, say local leaders need to be mindful of their words and that what happened during the holocaust should never be compared to what’s happening today.

“We have over 40 survivors still living in the area and many decedents and it’s really disrespectful to them,” said Wendy Weisbrot, who’s the chair of the Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo.

Weisbrot’s father was a Holocaust survivor and she says she’s upset that the Williamsville village board compared COVID-19 rules to the holocaust during a board meeting early this week.

“It certainly isn’t just the board and we’ve all heard rumblings of this and I feel in this political climate perhaps it’s escalating so we weren’t necessarily surprised just extremely disappointed,” she said.

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The comparison was sparked by a heated debate between members of the village board over the state’s isolation and quarantine procedures.

Those procedures state, that whenever appropriate to control the spread of a highly contagious communicable disease, the state commissioner of health may issue and/or may direct the local health authority to issue isolation and/or quarantine orders.

Lawmakers against the guidelines call it government overreach, while others say it keeps people safe.

“I think the pushback is misplaced quite frankly the fact that people are still getting sick and dying is just a sad story that continues to be told and the simple science is, if you have covid, you shouldn’t be around people,” said Senator Tim Kennedy.

“The whole idea of being able to quarantine someone and even isolate them in a place that’s not their home on the, just suspicion, that they may have some kind of communicable disease, it’s outrageous and every New Yorker should be outraged by it,” said Senator George Borrello.