U.S. House candidate Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher was criticized by the National Jewish Democratic Council for comments that blamed gun control for the Holocaust.

In a video released by the Ohio campaign, Wurzelbacher claimed that implementation of gun control prevented Europe’s Jews from fighting back against the Nazis.

“In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated,” Wurzelbacher said in the video.

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In response, NJDC president and CEO David Harris said in a statment, “Using the memories of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust to make a political point is never appropriate, under any circumstances. For Ohio Republican House candidate Samuel Wurzelbacher to imply that these innocent lives were taken because of gun control laws is simply beyond the pale.”

Wurzelbacher is the Republican nominee in Ohio’s Ninth Congressional District, which is currently held by Rep. Marcy Kaptur

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