California Governor Gavin Newsom Calls Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance’s Social Lab “Remarkable, A Humbling Experience”; Also Views Hitler Letter

October 6, 2021

Governor Newsom viewing The Hitler Letter with members of the California Jewish Caucus, state legislators and (left to right) SWC Executive Director Meyer H. May, SWC Founder and CEO Rabbi Marvin Hier, and SWC Associate Dean and Global Social Action Director Rabbi Abraham Cooper 

California Governor Gavin Newsom toured the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance’s newly launched Social Lab as well as one of the crown jewels of the Museum’s archival collection The Hitler Letter.  

Calling the new Nelson and Claudia Peltz Social Lab “remarkable” and saying he felt “humbled by the power of the museum experience,” Governor Newsom said he regretted not having visited the innovative, 10,000 square foot, state-of-the-art installation sooner. The Social Lab was made possible by the State of California. 

The newest addition to the Museum uses cutting-edge technology with provocative new exhibits examining pressing domestic and international issues ranging from hate and anti-Semitism, racism, LGBTQ+, climate change, homelessness, immigration, policing, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Governor added his name to the many world leaders, prime ministers, and presidents to view The Hitler Letter, written over one hundred years ago by Adolf Hitler, on September 16, 1919, six years before Mein Kampf. 

The letter, on display in the Museum of Tolerance, outlines Adolph Hitler’s plan calling for, “The uncompromising removal of the Jews altogether. It is a shocking reminder that anti-Semitism and hate are flourishing once again, only 70 years after the Holocaust. 

Since acquiring The Hitler Letter, it has been seen by tens of thousands of Museum visitors as well as by notable dignitaries, celebrities, and politicians and it is used as a teaching tool in the Museum’s robust educational programs. 

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).