"Sami Steigmann, 85, insisted that if principal Arin Rusch actually spoke to him, he would have been able to convince her that he would steer clear of hot-button Middle Eastern events - but he was never given a chance before being denied the opportunity to talk to kids at MS 447 in Boerum Hill. "My role is to educate the next generation about the Holocaust, about what hate can do. About the attempt to annihilate a group of people," he told The Post. "I teach about preventing hate," he added. "How can you prevent hate if you don't talk about it?""
"Rusch, however, shot down the suggestion to let Steigmann speak, claiming that his views would not be "right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine," according to a Nov. 18 letter to the parent. While Steigmann readily acknowledged his strong pro-Israel, anti-Hamas stance in speeches, he said he never makes comments on the subject in school buildings. "I do not talk about politics in school," he said. "It's not a forum to talk about politics." "She didn't have the courtesy to call me," he added of Rusch, calling the rejection "censorship, absolutely.""
Sami Steigmann, an 85-year-old pro-Israel Holocaust survivor, was denied permission to speak to middle school students at MS 447 in Boerum Hill about antisemitism. A parent proposed the visit to address rising antisemitism since Oct. 7, 2023, but principal Arin Rusch responded that Steigmann's views would not be "right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine." Steigmann, who was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp from 1941 to 1944, said he avoids political commentary in schools and focuses on Holocaust education and preventing hate. He called the denial "censorship" and criticized the Adams administration for defending the principal.
Read at New York Post
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