After fending off a wave of “tsk tsk”s from internet scolds, famed action star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is receiving back-up from the most staid authority imaginable, the Auschwitz Memorial Museum. The Terminator star had been shamed online after writing one of his signature catchphrases in the museum’s guestbook, but officials state that the gesture was widely misunderstood.
Schwarzenegger visited the Polish state museum, which is the site of the main Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz I and the extermination camp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau shortly after receiving the inaugural “Fighting Hatred” award in June from the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation. He signed his name, as well as his catchphrase, “I’ll be back,” which he used frequently throughout the Terminator franchise ever since he spoke the line in the original 1984 film.
Ever-reactionary Twitter users were quick to heap scorn on the messaging by the ”Governator,” with many accusing him of tone deafness and disrespect in a kerfluffle reminiscent of the outrage that surrounded Justin Bieber when the singer wrote that he believed Anne Frank would be a “belieber” in The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam.
This visit was planned to be relatively short. The inscription was meant to be a promise to return for another and more indepth visit.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) September 28, 2022
The memorial quickly leaped to Schwarzenegger’s defense, however, stating on the museum’s official Twitter account that the actor/politician’s visit was “planned to be relatively short,” and that his inscription was intended as “a promise to return for another and more in-depth visit.” The Memorial also Tweeted that Schwarzenegger’s visit was to “honor all the victims of the camp and deepen his knowledge about history that would help him fight against prejudices nowadays.”
Schwarzenegger has been forthright about his own experiences growing up in post-war Austria, describing it as “a country broken by the Nazis” to Variety. “I stand with the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation and their mission of education to ensure NEVER AGAIN,” he told the magazine.