Arnold Schwarzenegger and His Father: A Netflix Look at War, War Within

The Netflix documentary traces the tumultuous path of Arnold Schwarzenegger through a lens that insists on confronting the shadows of his family history. It surveys the life of Gustav Schwarzenegger, the actor’s father, who served as a Wehrmacht officer and fought in the brutal campaigns around Leningrad in 1942. The film notes that Gustav was wounded during combat and received the Iron Cross, a reminder of the era’s fierce honor codes and the pained choices families faced in war-torn Europe. After the conflict, Gustav married Aurelia, a young widow who brought two sons into the household, including the future superstar. The narrative, shared through Schwarzenegger’s own recollections, portrays his father as a man grappling with mental illness, with symptoms that the actor describes as resembling schizophrenia. He reflects on those times as deeply disorienting for the family, saying, “We returned home sadly. Austria was a fragmented country, and sometimes it was especially difficult for my father.” (Netflix documentary, 2024)