Arnold Schwarzenegger does not deny his past. The popular actor and former governor of the state of California, USA, wanted to remember the Nazi past of his family. A "stain" in his history that he hopes will serve as an example in the fight against anti-Semitism, a phenomenon that seems to be growing in the country.
In an interview on CNN, the protagonist of classics such as Terminator or Robocop wanted to tell how he lived with his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, who was a member of the Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler during World War II, coming to fight in some of the bloodier battles, such as the invasions of France or Poland; and the siege of the then Leningrad.
"My father, and many millions of other men, were sucked into a system of hate through lies and deceit. And we've already seen where that leads," said the actor, who assured that his father was "broken" inside .
"I have seen firsthand the kind of atrocities that happened. How many millions of people had to die and then end up as losers," he said.
"This just doesn't work. I mean, we're going to get along. Love is more powerful than hate," he stated in the interview.
It is not the first time that the actor has spoken about what he had to live with his father in his native Austria. A few weeks ago, the protagonist of Conan, The Barbarian joined the campaign against hate crimes and anti-Semitism in the United States, sharing his testimony in a video that quickly went viral.
"I've seen enough people throw their futures away because of their hateful beliefs, and let me tell you, in addition to the guilt and hurt, they felt like real losers," he says.
The actor's father passed away in 1972, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was already on the verge of becoming one of the best bodybuilders in the world.
"No matter how far you've come, I want everyone to know that there is still a chance for a lifetime of strength," he insists.
A report released by the Anti-Defamation League last month found that anti-Semitic incidents in the US are at their highest level since the organization began tracking them in 1979. Data released by the federal police (FBI) in March shows that the number of reported hate crimes also increased in 2021.
