Arnold Schwarzenegger Joins Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF) For Somber Visit To Death Camps
September 28, 2022
While visiting the only remaining synagogue near Auschwitz (at AJCF’s center), Schwarzenegger remarked:
“Simon [AJFC Chairman] and I were both born in Austria, he in a refugee camp after his parents survived Auschwitz, and I as the son of a man who fought in the Nazi war as a soldier. We now show the difference one generation can make. We are almost the same age, and we have something in common: we are both fighting prejudice, hatred, and discrimination. This is what unites us. This is a story that has to stay alive. This is a story that we have to tell over and over again.”
AJCF Chairman Simon Bergson and US Director Aviva Miller joined Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 28th in Oświęcim, Poland for an historic visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. Since 2000, AJCF stands firmly as a global beacon educating against all forms of prejudice and discrimination by applying the lessons of the Holocaust.
Bergson said of the day, “I support AJCF in memory of my parents, who both survived Auschwitz. We are deeply grateful that Arnold Schwarzenegger joined us here today to witness for himself the destruction that hate can cause and how we at AJCF impact the future by using the lessons of the past.”
Miller added, “We at AJCF want the world to know that hope exists in the shadow of the worst hate crime in human history. I extend a heartfelt thank you to the Former Governor for working together with us in our aligned missions to end hatred globally.”
On June 2, 2022, Schwarzenegger received the inaugural AJCF “AWARD FOR FIGHTING HATRED” for using his stature as a global influencer to fight hatred. He vowed that his visit to Auschwitz will be a catalyst to continue his advocacy. For years, Schwarzenegger has vocally opposed hatred, genocide, and acts of terror by leveraging his international media profile to educate his fans and followers about the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity.
