A group of masked protesters were seen Saturday waving Nazi flags outside a production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in Howell, Michigan.

Witnesses said the five individuals were heard shouting racist and anti-Semitic slurs in the parking lot of American Legion Post 141, where the play about the young Holocaust victim was taking place.

Bobby Brite, a veteran who took video of the group, told Detroit affiliate ABC WXYZ that the people attending the play were shocked and frightened.

“We had 75 people downstairs watching this room, and of those 75, there were 50 or 60 who were afraid to leave this building. We had to escort them to their cars. No one in America should feel like that,” said Brite, who said he served 26 years in the military.

Livingston County Sheriff Michael J. Murphy said they were called to respond to a “disturbance.” After protesters were asked to leave the property, they continued to protest across the street, at which point “a subject then approached them and an argument ensued “.

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“Nothing physical happened and ultimately the parties involved separated,” Murphy said.

According to the Fowlerville Community Theater, which put on the play, the audience and cast were informed of the incident during intermission.

“Although some were understandably shaken, they pulled themselves together and completed the performance strongly and professionally,” the theater organization said in a statement.

The play continued and was performed again the next day without incident.

“This production centers on real people who lost their lives during the Holocaust, and we have strived to tell their stories as realistically as possible,” the community theater group said. “On Saturday night, things became more real than expected. The presence of protesters outside gave us a small glimpse of the fear and uncertainty felt by those in hiding.”

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“As theater, we want people to feel and think,” the group continued. “We hope that by presenting Anne’s story we can help prevent past atrocities from happening again.”

In a statement on X, the Michigan chapter of the Anti-Defamation League denounced the incident.

“We are disgusted by far-right extremists who praised Hitler and waved Nazi flags in front of an American legion hosting the play ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ and we stand with the American Legion 141 and @HowellTownship who know there is no such thing as hate belong to their community,” the ADL said.

Nazi protesters gather outside the ‘Diary of Anne Frank’ play in Michigan originally appeared on abcnews.go.com