A man who survived the Holocaust was rejected and silenced from speaking at a Brooklyn public school last month, amNewYork has learned.
Sami Steigmann, 86, lived to tell his heartwrenching story about surviving a labor camp in Nazi Germany during World War II. He and many of his supporters were shocked when Principal Arin Rusch of MS 447 in Boerum Hill denied a parent’s request to have him speak to the students.
Rusch responded to the request by saying Steigmann’s presentation would not be right for the school “given his messages around Israel and Palestine,” according to an article in The Times of Israel.
But Steigmann, who is a motivational speaker, discusses messages of hope and resilience, as well as history, on his website, samispeaks.com.
“Never give up. Never lose hope and enjoy the life you’ve been given. Never be a perpetrator—anyone that hurts another, intentionally and repeatedly, is a perpetrator,” one message on his site reads.
Local politicians and advocates became outraged after the school refused to host the survivor. Steigmann is available to speak about a dark period in world history, when Nazis brutally murdered around 6 million Jewish people in Europe between 1941 and 1945.
“It is abhorrent to deny someone who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust the opportunity to share his experience with students, particularly during a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing among our youth,” Brooklyn City Council Member Inna Vernikov said. She further demanded that the school’s principal issue an apology to Steigmann.
Masha Pearl, executive director of The Blue Card, an organization that supports Holocaust survivors, was appalled at the denial and said “students deserve to learn the truth” about history.
“It is outrageous that a Holocaust survivor was denied the chance to speak to students,” she said. “Sami Steigmann is a survivor affiliated with The Blue Card, who discusses peace, tolerance and fighting against hate. His testimony as a child survivor of a Nazi labor camp is not political. It is history. Silencing him at a moment of rising antisemitism is dangerous and deeply wrong, and makes New York City less tolerant.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for NYC Public Schools stated that Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos is in discussions with Steigmann about collaborating with the city’s public school system, the largest in the nation, which serves approximately 1 million students.
“We firmly believe in the importance of educating our children about acceptance and respect and the tragic consequences of intolerance and hate, so our next generation can never again perpetrate such an atrocity,” the spokesperson said. “We are very proud of the Holocaust education work taking place across our public schools, and Chancellor Aviles-Ramos has already reached out to Mr. Steigmann to discuss upcoming plans for student engagement.”
Vernikov said she is awaiting “an actual date” from the schools to host Steigmann.
