“Blatant Anti-Semitism”: Holocaust Survivor Barred From Speaking at Brooklyn Public School

By FrumNews.com

Brooklyn, NY — The principal of a middle school that—according to its website—preaches “justice, equity, and joy,” denied a parent’s request for Sami Steigmann, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, to talk about anti-Semitism.

Principal Arin Rusch of MS 447 in the yuppie, ultra-liberal neighborhood of Boerum Hill denied the request, claiming Steigmann’s pro-Israel opinions—of Israel’s right to exist and that Jews not being massacred—would not be “right” for the school that preaches “justice, equity, and joy.”

“In looking at his website material, I also don’t think that Sami’s presentation is right for our public school setting, given his messages around Israel and Palestine,” Rusch wrote in an email obtained by the New York Post, adding that she would “love to explore other speakers” who could talk about the Holocaust and anti-semitism.

Yet Steigmann does not address current Middle East politics in his formal presentations. His lectures focus solely on the Holocaust, the dangers of hatred, and the moral responsibility of young people to stand against bigotry. His personal story transcends politics; it is a testament to survival, dignity, and historical truth.

Councilmember Inna Vernikov, who represents the Jewish communities in South Brooklyn, said she’s meeting with the school’s chancellor on Friday about the matter, CBS News reported.

The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project, an organization that actually promotes interfaith dialogue (rather than preaching it away), slammed the decision by MS 447 (which dropped the “math and science” portion of its name due to students’ plummeting proficiency in these subjects in 2023) as “ideological discrimination.”

“This decision is nothing short of ideological discrimination,” said Mark Appel, President of The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project. “To silence a Holocaust survivor because he is a proud Jew who supports Israel’s right to exist is a chilling echo of the very hatred Holocaust education is meant to confront. No school administrator has the moral or legal right to tell the Jewish community which Jews are acceptable and which are not.”

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

The Bridge Project notes that by imposing an inappropriate political litmus test on a protected religious minority, it undermined authentic Holocaust education and sent a dangerous message that Jewish voices are only welcome if they mask their identity.

Moshe Spern, President of the United Jewish Teachers, noted: “This is discrimination. A public school cannot claim to teach about anti-Semitism while silencing those who have lived through it.”

Holocaust survivors are among the last living witnesses to humanity’s darkest chapter. Each year, fewer remain. To block their testimony, especially in New York, home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, is not only an educational failure but a cultural betrayal.

The Bridge Project calls for a formal apology to Mr. Steigmann and the reinstatement of his invitation to speak at MS 447. As well as clear NYC DOE guidelines preventing the suppression of Jewish speakers based on identity or political assumptions

“If our educational institutions cannot distinguish between historic testimony and political censorship, we are endangering the very lessons the Holocaust obligates us to learn,” the Bridge Project wrote in a statement.