Arnold Schwarzenegger reflects on his Nazi father’s abuse
Austrian-born actor, politician and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger has reflected on the abuse of his Nazi father and how he believes his behaviour resulted in the death of his brother.
Speaking in the new Netflix docu-series, he discusses his father’s past as a Nazi party official and claims that after the war, he was equally tyrannical at home. He was abusive, seemingly suffered with mental health issues, and this made for a very “tough” childhood for Schwarzenegger and his brother.
“He was buried underneath buildings, rubble, for three days, and on top of that, they lost the war. They went home so depressed,” he explained regarding Gustav. “Austria was a country of broken men. I think there were times where my father really struggled.”
“He would scream at three in the morning and we would wake up and our hearts were pounding because we knew what that meant,” Schwarzenegger said, likening the behaviour to Schizophrenia. “He could, at any given time, strike my mother or go crazy. So there was this strange violence.”
This had a horrendous impact on the family. His mother passed away following a drink driving accident which Arnold believes was brought on by his father’s actions. Likewise, he blamed his brother’s untimely death on the household’s toxic atmosphere where they were forced to “earn breakfast” and “compete against each other.”
He concludes: “The brutality that was at home, the beatings that we got from our parents sometimes — all of this I think he could not sustain…He was much more delicate of a person by nature.”
The series premiered on June 7th and is currently available on Netflix. You can check out the trailer below.
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