28-05-2025
Northbrook residents demand removal of sign featuring Nazi symbol
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — In downtown Northbrook, a longstanding free speech zone is the focus of a new uproar with some neighbors saying it has now crossed the line into hate speech.
'It was terrible. It was just gut wrenching. It was shocking,' Jeff Kaminsky said.
A sign at the corner of Shermer Road and Walters Avenue reads 'Northbrook stands with migrants' and shows a blue inverted triangle, which is a Nazi symbol.
'I live a block away. I can see it if I walk outside my door and come half a block up. I'm very upset by this,' Lisa Beth Gansberg with Friends of United Hatzalah said. 'This is a trigger. It just incites further violence.'
As WGN was interviewing Gansberg, the man who created the sign, Lee Goodman, walked up to the corner.
'I just want to ask you what's your thought behind the triangle,' she asked him.
Goodman turned away, saying he didn't want to speak with her on camera. But he did speak with WGN about the political message he's trying to send with the controversial sign.
'The blue triangle was worn by migrants in Nazi concentration camps in World War II and now that our president is sending people to a concentration camp in El Salvador, migrant groups have decided to adopt the blue triangle as a symbol of strength and resistance,' Goodman said.
It's a symbol of hate and antisemitism, according to Kaminsky.
'He is weaponizing free speech, he's weaponizing the first amendment for shock, for Holocaust trauma,' Kaminsky said.
A permanent sign at the corner tells anyone who reads it that the Village of Northbrook doesn't sponsor or endorse the temporary expressions.
But anyone who wants to place a message there does have to submit it to the village manager's office for approval.
'They give a permit to virtually anyone,' Goodman said.
Only adding to the offense, the sign is standing during Jewish American Heritage Month.
'If they truly believe hate has no home in Northbrook… that those words have meaning, to stand with the Jewish community, fight antisemitism, then they must take that sign down,' Kaminsky said.
The Village of Northbrook issued the following statement regarding the sign:
'The Village President and Board of Trustees are aware of questions and concerns regarding a privately installed sign currently on display at the northwest corner of Shermer Road and Walters Avenue, a Village public forum area. For a half a century, the site has been a designated First Amendment Free Speech public forum for private individuals to display messages. There is a prominent sign on the public forum site clearly stating that the private display is not endorsed by the Village of Northbrook, and that no public funds have been used in connection with the display. All displays on the public forum are installed by private individuals or organizations at their own expense. The Village is permitted by law to restrict size and duration of displays, which it does. Northbrook is home to people of many backgrounds and communities of faith. As neighbors, we promote peaceful dialogue, dignity, and respect, and we reject hate and discrimination in all forms. We stand together as one community.
At the regularly scheduled meeting of the Village Board on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at 7:30 p.m., public comments are welcome by our residents.'
The Chicago Jewish Alliance issued the following statement:
'Red Triangle. Blue Triangle. Nazi Symbols. Not Protest Props.
In Nazi Germany, colored triangles weren't fashion statements. They were tools of state-sponsored dehumanization and precursors to murder.
The red triangle marked political enemies targeted for destruction. Today, Hamas resurrects it to mark Israelis for death.
The blue triangle labeled stateless refugees—people with no protection, no home, and no rights.
Now in Northbrook, Illinois, both symbols are being grotesquely repurposed by Lee Goodman—a man who parades in a self-made Nazi prisoner uniform and exploits Holocaust imagery to cast himself as a modern-day victim on public land sanctioned by the Village.
This is not remembrance. This is not protest. It is trauma theater. It is Holocaust appropriation. It is incitement.
The Village of Northbrook has adopted resolutions against antisemitism and hate. Yet it allows this spectacle to remain.
Tonight, we call on Northbrook to live up to its values:
1. Remove the display immediately.
2. Publicly condemn Lee Goodman for weaponizing Holocaust symbols.
3. Stop using public land to showcase provocateurs who harm and divide.
4. Stand with the Jewish community in action, not just rhetoric.
Because when Holocaust trauma becomes street theater and hate hides behind free speech, it is not just offensive. It is dangerous. Speak out tonight at the Village Meeting. Make your voice heard.'
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