Arnold Schwarzenegger visits Auschwitz on mission to 'terminate' hate, meets with Holocaust survivor

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Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines September 28

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Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi German death camp in Oswiecim, Poland Nazi Wednesday as part of his work with the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation.

The 75-year-old former California governor, who was born in Austria, met with a Holocaust survivor and children of Holocaust survivors from World War II.  

Schwarzenegger viewed the barracks, watchtowers and remains of gas chambers that remain on site as evidence of the German extermination of Jews and others during the war.

"This is a story that has to stay alive, this is a story that we have to tell over and over again," Schwarzenegger said.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger toured Auschwitz and met with a Holocaust survivor Wednesday.  (Michal Dyjuk)

The action hero turned politician also met with a woman who, as a 3-year-old child, was subjected to experiments by the notorious Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who was also known as the "Angel of Death."

Simon Bergson, the foundation’s chairman, who was born after the war to Auschwitz survivors, mentioned his own family history.

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"Arnold and I are living proof that within one generation hatred can be shifted entirely," Bergson said. "Governor, thank you for joining us here today."

Schwarzenegger addressed some of his own difficult history. "I was the son of a man who fought in the Nazi war and was a soldier," he said.

In 1990, the "Total Recall" star enlisted the help of the Simon Wiesenthal Center to pursue more information about his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger. 

The center, named after the famed Nazi hunter, found that Gustav was part of the Nazi Party, but did not belong to any of the more senior ranking units. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger meets with Simon Bergson, chairman of The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, during his trip to Auschwitz in Oswiecim, Poland, on Sept. 28, 2022. (Michal Dyjuk)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, and Simon Bergson, chairman of The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, right, visit the Auschwitz - Birkenau Nazi German death camp in Oswiecim, Poland,  (Michal Dyjuk)

Arnold has adamantly denounced his father's affiliation with the Nazis, and has since contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Wiesenthal Center, in addition to continuing work with Jewish foundations.

Bergson added: "Arnold and I are living proof that within one generation hatred can be shifted entirely. Governor, thank you for joining us here today."

His visit to the site in southern Poland, which was under German occupation during WWII, was his first and came as part of his work with the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, whose mission is to fight hatred through education.

He received the foundation's inaugural "Fighting Hatred" award in June for his anti-hatred stance on social media. He said he couldn't attend in person then because he was filming a new action series in Canada and was in a "COVID bubble."

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Schwarzenegger received the foundation's inaugural "Fighting Hatred" award in June for his anti-hatred stance on social media. 

He said he couldn't attend in person then because he was filming a new action series in Canada and was in a "COVID bubble," and vowed that Wednesday’s visit would not be his last.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, center, and Simon Bergson, chairman of The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, third left, visit Auschwitz - Birkenau Nazi German death camp  (Michal Dyjuk)

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. Around 1 million of them were Jews. Some 75,000 Poles were killed 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 Russian soldiers to his own ambitions.

In that video he brought up painful memories about how his own father was lied to as he fought, and how he returned to Austria a broken man, physically and emotionally, after being wounded at Leningrad.

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The Associate Press contributed to this report.