Activist seemingly ‘compares John Howard to Nazi doctor’

A prominent multimillionaire has denied comparing John Howard to a Nazi doctor who tortured Jews after a Tweet in which he described the popular Liberal prime minister as ‘the angel of death’ was criticised by Holocaust survivors.

Simon Holmes à Court, who is funding the so-called ‘Teal’ independents challenging moderate Liberals in wealthy Sydney and Melbourne seats tweeted on Wednesday: ‘@LiberalAus’s ‘angel of death’ — John Howard — is expected at #KooyongVotes prepoll any moment.’

‘Angel of Death’ was the nickname given to Josef Mengele, who performed deadly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.

A survivor of Mengele’s monstrous experiments is still alive in Melbourne.

But Mr Holmes à Court later said he is part Jewish and his tweet was misunderstood and taken out of context.

‘The quote refers solely to a Liberal’s description of Howard from a recent newspaper article, he said.

Simon Holmes à Court has denied comparing John Howard (pictured) to a Nazi doctor who tortured Jews with grotesque experiments

The article in The Saturday Paper quoted an unnamed Liberal insider saying: แผ่นพื้นสำร็จรูป ‘I look at John Howard as the angel of death. You don’t send John Howard somewhere you don’t need him’.

Mr Holmes à Court used this in reference to Mr Howard campaigning for Josh Frydenberg, whose seat of Kooyong is under threat from Teal independent Monique Ryan.

‘As someone with Jewish ancestry, I find these false claims of antisemitism for political gain to be abhorrent,’ he insisted.

Before he said his earlier tweet had been misused, a Jewish woman in Sydney named Ziva, whose grandparents were murdered by the Nazis, said, ‘God forgive them for แผ่นพื้นสำร็จรูป what they have stooped to,’ in reference to Mr Holmes à Court.

The tweet (pictured) by activist green multi-millionaire Simon Holmes à Court seemingly comparing John Howard to a Nazi doctor

Mr Holmes à Court is financing the so-called ‘teal independent’ candidates hoping to win seats off Liberal incumbents.

Ray Hadley on radio station 2GB called out the Climate 200 founder for his comment.

‘I know there’s a lot of dirty things being said in the election but I think I’ve just found the dirtiest.

‘[Simon Holmes à Court,] you are an absolute disgrace,’ Hadley said.

A listener to his show, Ziva, who was born in Poland and lived in Israel before coming to Australia, phoned in to express her horror at Mr Holmes à Court’s tweet.

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‘I want to explain… what [Mr Holmes à Court] said from a point of view of a woman who has spent many years in Australia,’ she said.

‘Josef Mengele was one of the worst of the worst during the war. I have never had grandparents on my mother’s side or on my father’s side.

‘The only thing I know is that my mother’s parents were one of the first couples to be walked to the gas chamber,’ said Ziva, who is a grandmother of seven.

‘There are Jewish people, I promise you, that are crying today in their homes,’ she said, adding that people need to understand what Mengele did.

Ziva then commented on the battle for the seat of Wentworth in eastern Sydney, where Liberal incumbent Dave Sharma is facing a strong challenge from Teal independent Allegra Spender.

Nazi doctor Josef Mengele (pictured) performed deadly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II

‘There is a young woman (Ms Spender) that wants to get rid of the person who has been very good for Wentworth, แผ่นพื้นสำร็จรูป and bring (in) a woman who has been backed up by this man (Mr Holmes à Court), she said.

Wentworth has the highest Jewish population of any constituency in NSW, and is one of the highest nationally.

Ziva then spoke about the horrors of what Mengele did.

‘He will never be forgiven, because there are people today that lost twin brothers and twin sisters, because he experimented on twins. He experimented on babies,’ she said.

Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court (pictured) is under fire for seemingly comparing John Howard to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele

Ziva was so shocked by Mr Holmes à Court’s tweet, she said ‘God forgive them for what they have stooped to.’

She said Mr Holmes à Court had apparently ‘brought up something that will destroy (people) for the whole day’.

‘I cannot believe… Holmes à Court… could bring himself to say that. I just can’t comprehend it.’

Dr Dvir Abramovich, chairman of Jewish lobby group the Anti-Defamation Commission, said he didn’t ‘know what is in the heart of Simon Holmes à Court and what his intentions were in using this term,’ but he knows what the effect is.

‘To use rhetoric that results in the comparing of John Howard to a monster such as Josef Mengele, who performed sadistic and often deadly experiments on concentration camp inmates, including on children, is beyond offensive and beyond hurtful,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.