A pro-Israel Holocaust survivor who was turned away from speaking to Brooklyn middle schoolers about antisemitism called the rejection “censorship” and slammed the Adams administration for defending the principal’s controversial denial.
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?”
A parent initially wrote to Rusch about the possibility of welcoming Steigmann to the school last month to delve into combating antisemitism, which has been on the rise across the Big Apople and nation since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Steigmann was imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp as a young child between 1941 and 1944 with his family, subjected to starvation under brutal conditions.
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.”
The Holocaust survivor has spoken with other students as young as elementary age — and even to members of the Church of Scientology, noting, “I don’t discriminate.”
Steigmann was even more stunned that Rusch’s decision was defended by top school officials and the Adams administration.
“While this speaker wasn’t the right fit, we will continue to ensure our students hear from the living survivors of this history into the future,” a City Hall spokesperson said.
“What shocked me is that Mayor Adams agreed [with the decision]. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Steigmann said. “Everything is upside down.”
The mayor’s office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
City public schools have dealt with numerous controversies that have angered the Jewish community, including the Department of Education linking to a “Stop Gaza Genocide” toolkit in a newsletter and anti-Israel students targeting a Jewish teacher at a Queens school two years ago.
