Schwarzenegger thought of the barracks, watchtowers, and the remains of the fuel chambers that remain at the site as evidence of the German extermination of Jews and others during the war.
“It’s a story that wants to stay alive, it’s a story we want to tell over and over again,” Schwarzenegger said.
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The action hero-turned-politician also met a woman who, at the age of 3, underwent experiments through prominent Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, also known as the “angel of death. “
Simon Bergson, the foundation’s president, born after the Auschwitz survivors’ war, spoke about his own family history circle.
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“Arnold and I are living evidence that in one generation, hate can be completely displaced,” Bergson said. “Governor, thank you for joining us today. “
Schwarzenegger tackled some of his own complicated history. ” I am the son of a man who fought in the Nazi war and a soldier,” he said.
In 1990, the “Total Recall” star recruited the Simon Wiesenthal Center to learn more about his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger.
The center, named after the notorious Nazi hunter, discovered that Gustav was part of the Nazi component, but did not belong to any of the higher-ranking units.
Arnold strongly denounced his father’s association with the Nazis and has since donated piles of thousands of dollars to the Wiesenthal Center, in addition to continuing his paintings with Jewish foundations.
Bergson added, “Arnold and I are living evidence that within a generation, hatred can be completely displaced. Governor, thank you for joining us here today. “
His stopover at the site in southern Poland, which was under German World War II direction, was his first and was part of his work with the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, whose project is to combat hatred through education.
He won the foundation’s inaugural “Fighting Hatred” award in June for his stance against hate on social media. He said he couldn’t attend at the time because he was filming a new action series in Canada and in a “COVID bubble. “
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Schwarzenegger won the foundation’s first “Fighting Hatred” award in June for his stance against hate on social media.
He said he couldn’t attend User at the time because he was filming a new action series in Canada and in a “COVID bubble,” and promised Wednesday’s stopover wouldn’t be the last.
Using one of the most iconic lines from “The Terminator,” Schwarzenegger promised the foundation, “I’ll be back. “
Historians estimate that around 1. 1 million people were killed at Auschwitz during the war. About 1 million of them were Jews. Some 75,000 Poles died there, as well as Roma, Russian prisoners of war and others.
Schwarzenegger told Russians in a video posted on social media in March that they were being lied to about the war in Ukraine and accused President Vladimir Putin of sacrificing Russia for his own ambitions.
In this video, he evoked painful memories of how his own father lied to him while he was fighting, and how he returned to Austria damaged, physically and emotionally, after being wounded in Leningrad.
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Associate Press contributed to this report.
Tracy Wright is an entertainment for Fox News Digital. Send story tips to tracy. wright@fox. com.