Steven Spielberg Accepts USC Shoah Foundation Honor, Says He’s “Increasingly Alarmed” by Antisemitism

“The echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate,” stated Steven Spielberg in an intense speech attaching the past to today as he approved the USC Medallion on Monday. The epic filmmaker got the College of Southern The golden state’s highest possible honor, which has actually existed on just 3 previous celebrations, in acknowledgment of three decades of the Shoah Foundation, a company that he established after making his work of art Schindler’s Listing, which has actually been based at USC for the last two decades.

“The rise of extremist views has created a dangerous environment,” he stated. “And radical intolerance leads a society to no longer celebrate differences, but to instead conspire to demonize those who are different to the point of creating ‘the other.’”

Spielberg’s co-honorees at the lunch, which was emceed by USC head of state Carol Folt and held at the college’s Community and Dress structure, were the greater than 56,000 Holocaust survivors that have actually offered testaments to the foundation. They were stood for there by Celina Biniaz, that was the youngest women whose life was conserved by Oskar Schindler, and that has, over the last few years, been especially energetic with the foundation.

Spielberg proceeded,“We see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses, where now fully 50 percent of [Jewish] students say they have experienced some discrimination because they are Jewish. This is also happening alongside anti-Muslim, -Arab and -Sikh discrimination. The creation of ‘the other’ and the dehumanization of any group based on their differences are the foundations of fascism. It’s an old playbook, but it’s been dusted off and is being widely distributed today.”

He included,“I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish.”

The three-time Oscar victor took place,“We can rage against the heinous acts committed by the terrorists of October 7th, and also decry the killing of innocent women and children in Gaza. This makes us a unique force for good in the world, and it is why we are here today: To celebrate the work of the Shoah Foundation, which is more crucial now than it even was in 1994. It is crucial in the wake of the horrific October 7th massacre; it is crucial to the stopping of political violence caused by misinformation, conspiracy theories and ignorance; it is crucial because stopping the rise of antisemitism and hate of any kind is critical to the health of our democratic republic and the future of democracy all over the civilized world.”

2 hundred and sixty-five visitors remained in presence for the occasion, consisting of greater than 30 Holocaust survivors; a number of the thousands of individuals that operate at the Shoah Foundation, which has actually been based at USC for the last two decades, consisting of Samuel Gustman, and at the Exemplary Individuals Foundation, like Shayna Triebwasser; and various other participants of the Hollywood area that have actually been associated with battling antisemitism, consisting of press agent Melissa Zuckerman.

Head of state Folt, in her initial statements, kept in mind that USC has actually added $50 countless assistance to the Shoah Foundation, consisting of $30 million in the last 4 years. She stated,“The work of the foundation is needed now more than ever. We all know antisemitism is on the rise, and frighteningly so, and we feel the searing pain of October 7, and we must fight antisemitism with everything we have.”

After that was evaluated an Octavia Spencer-narrated video clip recording the background of the Shoah Foundation, which was developed following Spielberg’s experience making Schindler’s Listing.