The Austrian-born movie star and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzeneggerdenounced hatred and anti-Semitism in a video message on YouTube.

Schwarzenegger, who last September visited the Auschwitz concentration camp where an estimated 1.1 million Jews were exterminated by the Nazis during World War II, is urging those spreading hate to stop and choose a brighter path. He emphasizes that hatred is “the path of the weak” and calls on people to “choose strength” to overcome their prejudices.

“When you walk into a place like Auschwitz, you feel a huge weight,” says Arnold Schwarzenegger. “There are reminders everywhere of the horror that happened there.”

The 75-year-old actor then addresses his message to those who are “in the wrong direction”.

“If you’ve heard any conspiracies about Jews, or people of any race, gender or orientation, and thought, ‘That makes sense to me.’ I want to talk to you if you find yourself thinking that someone is inferior and wants to hurt you because of their religion or the color of their skin or their gender,” the actor said.

“I don’t know the road that brought you here, but I’ve seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs. So I want to talk to you before you discover your error at the end of the trail,” he said.

Schwarzenegger, whose father Gustav was a member of the Nazi party and died in 1972, said Germans felt “lost” with guilt after World War II.

“Besides the guilt and the injuries, they felt defeated. Not just because they lost the war, but because they fell for a horrible, failed ideology,” he said. “They were lied to and led down a path that ended in misery… they succumbed to the idea that the only way to make their lives better was to make other people’s lives worse…. It tears you apart… it’s the path of the weak… there has never been a successful movement based on hate,” he underlines.

Referring to those who have embraced a hateful outlook – either because of their upbringing or because they were drawn into extremist online mazes the actor encourages them to improve themselves and their lives instead of blaming others.

“You have two paths before you right now. One of them will be the most difficult today. It will be downright painful. You have to force your mind to think in new ways. You may lose some friends who want to hold on to their weak beliefs, but as you move away from that anger and that hatred, you will eventually begin to feel empowered. You will realize that you have the greatest power of all – the power to change your life,” he points out.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

“The other way is easy, much easier” he continues. “You don’t have to change anything, everything in your life that you’re not happy about can be someone else’s fault… You’ll end up broken. Looking for ways to numb your pain and unhappiness. I don’t want you to go through all this… Choose strength. Choose life. Master your mind. You can do it”.

Arnold Schwarzenegger