Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf, the son of Holocaust survivors, believes that his family’s history and his role owning an NFL franchise give him a unique responsibility: to use his platform to educate younger generations about the dangers of antisemitism and bigotry. 

That mission was on display Saturday, when Wilf was joined by Vikings defensive tackle Levi Drake Rodriguez, offensive lineman Walter Rouse, defensive end Elijah Williams and former Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, as the group took a tour of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum together with a group of Black Minneapolis-area high school students. 

The visit marked the sixth such trip coordinated by the Vikings and the nonprofit Project Success and was aimed at exposing students to history through tours of both the Holocaust museum and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

“It’s very important for young people to learn about history and how they can make an impact on the world and society,” Wilf told Jewish Insider during the group’s guided tour of the Holocaust museum. “To learn the history of the world — where sometimes there’s hatred and bigotry and see what it can lead to — and also learn the impact of an individual: how an individual can change things, can fight back and how we can set an example by being tolerant and learning from each other.”

Wilf and his brother, Zygi Wilf, have owned the Minnesota Vikings since 2005. Wilf’s family has long supported Holocaust education and survivor organizations, including Yad Vashem, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. He is the current chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel, after recently serving as chair of the Jewish Federations of North America.

During World War II, Wilf’s father, Joseph, was deported with his family to a Siberian labor camp. His mother, Elizabeth, survived by escaping the Lvov ghetto and hiding in a barn with her family until liberation. Joseph and Elizabeth met at a displaced persons camp in Germany after the war, married and came to America.

For Wilf, the Vikings’ partnership with Project Success connects his professional platform with that family legacy.

“My parents, grandparents, are all Holocaust survivors, so it’s deeply personal to myself and my family,” Wilf said. “We’re very privileged to be in this country and as Americans, and being part of the NFL … so I’m going to use that platform to help educate.”

The veteran Vikings owner acknowledged that antisemitism is “much more out there” today, but emphasized that the need for education remains constant. “It doesn’t matter when the time is, to be educated is important,” he said. “Every generation has to learn that history over and over again. The bigotries, the prejudices, the hatreds — these lessons are always critical to making society better.”

“All these lessons from history, these things happened, and now, by going through these museums and being on the street, they [the students] are now witnesses, and they have a responsibility to tell, to learn that as individuals they can make an impact,” he added. 

Beyond exposing students to Holocaust history, Wilf said it was also important for Vikings players to join the tour — both to help guide the students and to experience the history themselves.

“Our Vikings players are so appreciative of representing the Vikings and being here,” Wilf said. “People look up to professional athletes like the Minnesota Vikings. We’re appreciative that they’re great ambassadors for our organization, and they’re learning as well at the same time.” 

Rouse, an offensive tackle who was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, told JI that it was his first time on the trip and that he would not hesitate to do it again. He said the experience was especially enlightening for him based on “how little I learned in high school on what happened in the Holocaust.”

“The main thing I knew was about Anne Frank and Auschwitz,” Rouse said. “It’s important that everyone at least understands and gets a glimpse of what happened with the Holocaust, especially with the state of the world today.”

“The fact that you had people [Wilf’s parents] that were able to survive the Holocaust and still persevere through to have raised someone like Mark and have that strength to move forward and to get through that evil — it’s just important,” he added. “It’s a disgusting part of the history of the world, but I think it’s important that everyone knows about that.”

Rouse said that having the students in attendance was especially important: 

“A few of them [the students] talked about how they didn’t even know a lot about the Holocaust, they only learned a couple things,” Rouse said. “They may have known a lot about slavery, but they didn’t know about the Holocaust. Being able to see that perspective actually brings us closer together because we have more things in common with one another. I think that’s one thing that we can connect and share and come together that can just help bring us forward.” 

Rouse said the effort is something that more NFL teams and players should emulate. “I think there are players in every single team that do want to get involved, do want to help,” he said. “And there are students across the country in each and every state that would not hesitate to say yes and come to something like this and be part of the experience. I think we should do this for as many people as we can.” 

Williams, a defensive end who signed with the Vikings in 2025, said the most important part of the experience was “understanding history.” Echoing Rouse, Williams said the museum tour offered a closer look at a subject he felt was not taught in enough depth in school.

“In school, you don’t really get too in-depth of all the atrocities. But when you get into these museums, you really get the unfiltered truth. That’s what we need in society — unfiltered truth so we don’t sugarcoat the atrocities of the past,” Williams said. “We tend to repeat it [history], and this is just another example of the hatred in the world and how we need to avoid it.”

But while the players had their own takeaways from the experience, Williams similarly emphasized that “the kids being here was way more important than us [the players] being here.” 

“The younger generation is always going to be the future, even though we’re not that many years apart,” Williams said. “I feel like them being here is just going to help bring more change into this world, more than the previous generations could bring.” 

Rodriguez, a defensive tackle and seventh-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft for the Vikings, said the experience was important in bringing the history “to light.” 

“I think it just brings to light the history that is brutal, heartbreaking and gut-wrenching, and shows how we could seek a change in our lives and get more knowledge from that,” Rodriguez said. “Just how many souls had to fight day in and day out. You can’t even put into words, honestly, the [amount of] mass casualties that took place. And for what? Someone’s race, skin color or ethnicity? It’s insane.”