Arnold Schwarzenegger to be honored by Holocaust Museum LA on Monday

Ray Richmond
·2 min read
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At a time when antisemitism is rising throughout the United States, Hollywood icon and former professional bodybuilder and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – an Austrian native whose father Gustav Schwarzenegger was a Nazi soldier in Austria during World War II – is being honored by Holocaust Museum LA with its inaugural Award of Courage during the group’s 15th annual gala Monday night (November 6) at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He will be presented the award by Oscar-nominated producer Mike Medavoy and will be joined by a dozen octogenarian, nonagenarian and centenarian Holocaust survivors.

Schwarzenegger, an Emmy winner who has been a vocal opponent of antisemitism and hate speech for many years, was greatly moved last year by a visit to the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, Poland and posted a lengthy video last March on his YouTube page, In the video, he spoke directly to those who are “at the crossroads” of going on a path driven by hate, saying that such a path may seem easy, but that those who follow it “will not find success at the end of that road.” Choosing to focus on hate, he said, is essentially choosing to create a scapegoat instead of taking responsibility.

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“Hate burns fast and bright. It might make you feel empowered for a while, but it eventually consumes whatever vessel it fuels. It breaks you,” Schwarzenegger said in his video. “…There has never been a successful movement based on hate. … I don’t want you to be a loser.” He added that people should opt for a life of personal accountability and true strength.  “When you spend your life looking for scapegoats, you take away your own responsibility. You remove your own power. You steal your own strength,” he said. …You have to give up your war against everyone you hate. … The war you really have to fight is the war against yourself.”

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