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The Schindler's List director said he had not seen such hate "since Germany in the '30s" while appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Steven Spielberg is commenting on the "surprising" rise of antisemitism.
During an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," the "Schindler's List" director shared his concerns.
"I find it very, very surprising," Spielberg noted. "Antisemitism has always been there — it's either been just around the corner and slightly out of sight but always lurking, or it has been much more overt like in Germany in the '30s. But not since Germany in the '30s have I witnessed antisemitism no longer lurking, but standing proud with hands on hips like Hitler and Mussolini, kind of daring us to defy it. I've never experienced this in my entire life, especially in this country."
Spielberg remarked, "Somehow, the marginalizing of people that aren't part of some kind of a majority race is something that has been creeping up on us for years and years and years,"
"Somehow in 2014, 2015, 2016 hate became a kind of membership to a club that has gotten more members than I ever thought was possible in America," he added. "And hate and antisemitism go hand in hand; you can't separate one from the other."
"Without painting a naive portrait of myself," the legendary director shared a countervailing message by turning to Anne Frank for inspiration. "I think she was right when she said that most people are good. She said she saw good in most people. And I think essentially at our core, there is goodness and there is empathy."
Richie Shazam for Elle
