Roane State Community College

May 1, 2023

Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus will screen a documentary film titled "The Cure for Hate: Bearing Witness to Auschwitz” on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, followed by a panel discussion sponsored by the college’s Arts and Lectures Committee. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. ET in room 107 of the Goff Building.

Students, faculty, staff, and members of the community are invited to attend the free event. Special guests for the post-screening panel discussion include documentary subject Tony McAleer, filmmaker Peter Hutchison, and retired chief of the FBI’s Civil Rights Unit Cynthia M. Deitle, JD, LLM.

The film follows McAleer, a former Neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier, who went on to become a founding member of the anti-hate activist group Life After Hate.

“Profoundly aware and deeply ashamed of the lineage of hate he had once promoted, Tony had long-contemplated traveling to Auschwitz to bear witness to the inconceivable ravages of the Holocaust and deepen his personal work against the rise of extremist politics,” the film’s description states.

“This project documents his profoundly personal journey of atonement to Auschwitz/Birkenau - exploring the conditions that allowed for the rise of fascism in 1930s Europe; shedding a unique light upon how men get into, and out of, violent extremist groups; and serving as a cautionary tale for our time that underscores the dangers in allowing hate to be left unchecked.”

Award-winning production company Eat the Moon Films is bringing this event to Roane State, in partnership with the RSCC Arts and Lectures Committee.

According to a statement from the production company, the film and event were also made possible thanks to a grant from The Center for Prevention Programs & Partnerships “Targeted Violence & Terrorism Prevention Program.”

For information on this and other events sponsored by the Roane State Arts and Lectures Committee, visit roanestate.edu/artsandlectures.