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\"Arbeit macht frei\" was a false, cynical illusion the SS gave to prisoners of #Auschwitz. Those words became one of the icons of human hatred. It's painful to see this symbol instrumentalized & used again to spread hate. It's a symptom of moral & intellectual degeneration. https://t.co/ZRxja8x6eS

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 2, 2020

Pritzker, who is of Jewish descent, denounced the protester for carrying the sign at Friday's rally in front of the governor's office at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago as well as several other demonstrators he said carried signs containing swastikas, including one referring to the governor “Heil Pritzker.\"

''The people who were protesting -- there were quite a number of people who seem to have been carrying signs filled with hate,” Pritzker said in a tweet on Saturday. “There were people carrying signs with swastikas on them. The meaning of that swastika is apparently unknown to the people who are carrying it, or if it is known, it is a demonstration of the hate that is among us.”

Here it is, in motion, for those who question if it was real. I’m sure some will say I got George Lucas on this.... pic.twitter.com/U513iJYrvg

— Dennis Kosuth, RN (@Dennis_Kosuth) May 3, 2020

Pritzker also took to Twitter to condemn such Nazi symbols being used at what organizers had billed as a peaceful protest.

\"I've spent decades of my life fighting against bigotry & hatred,\" Pritzker tweeted, adding that he worked with Holocaust survivors to help raise money for a Holocaust museum in Chicago that was dedicated in 2017.

I've spent decades of my life fighting against bigotry & hatred. I helped build @ihmec by working with Holocaust survivors. The meaning of that swastika is apparently unknown to the people who are carrying it, or if it is known, it's a demonstration of the hate that is among us.

— Governor JB Pritzker (@GovPritzker) May 2, 2020

During a coronavirus press briefing on Saturday, Pritzker noted that only a few of the several hundred protesters displayed messages of hate.

The demonstration, one of several protests throughout the state this weekend against Pritzker's stay-at-home orders, came as the number of coronavirus cases in Illinois climbed to 58,505, with 2,559 deaths, according to the latest data released Saturday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

While Pritzker said he understands the frustration of the protesters, many who have had to go on unemployment due to nonessential businesses being closed, he added that the drastic measures he's taken are to keep people safe and prevent the virus, formally known as COVID-19, from spreading.

\"I’ll defend to the death their right to be wrong and to say it out loud, but the fact is that if they look at the facts the experts are trying to protect them, and the elected officials that stand on the right side of this are trying to protect them,\" Pritzker said.

But protesters say that the stay-at-home orders have gone on too long and Pritzker has overstepped his authority.

\"The governor has gone beyond his legal authority to order citizens of the state to do anything,\" protester Ben Bierly, a Republican candidate for the Illinois state Senate, told reporters at the rally.

Another protester, Tony Peraicam, a former Cook County commissioner, added: \"We are still the land of the free. We are still independent people who can think for themselves.\"

Similar anti-lockdown protests have occurred throughout the country, including large demonstrations drawing several thousand people in Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Oregon and Arizona.

What to know about the coronavirus:

Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis.

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