HAUTE SPOT

“Peaceman” And His “Unstoppable” Father

There’s no shortage of colorful characters here in the Hamptons. But there’s only one (that we know of) who personally claims the iconic title of “superhero.” 

That’s Ivan Wilzig, aka “Peaceman.” The high-flying former banker, who also calls himself “Sir Ivan,” is perhaps best known for his outlandish exploits — such as donning an oversized peace sign necklace and cape while appearing on reality television shows and producing techno music videos of himself singing iconic peace songs — and outrageous parties at his giant moat-encircled mansion in Water Mill. 

But there’s much more to the man than just over-the-top adventures and escapades. A philanthropist and advocate for social justice, Wilzig comes by his desire for harmony honestly. His father, Siegbert “Siggi” Wilzig, a Holocaust survivor and self-made success dedicated his life to speaking out against hatred and injustice. 

The senior Wilzig, who survived Auschwitz, Mauthausen and more than one death march, arrived in America with the equivalent of a few dollars in his pocket and 98 pounds on his emaciated frame. Through grit, determination, hard work and instinct, he built his own version of the American Dream. 

During the span of his lifetime, the self-taught Siggi built a $4 billion empire in oil and banking, received honorary Doctorates of Law from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University and Hofstra University Law School, and became a founding Director and Fellow of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he endowed the Siggi B. Wilzig Center for Banking Law. A recipient of Israel’s Prime Minister’s Club Award medal, he was also founding member of the Holocaust Memorial Museum Council in Washington, gave testimony for the Steven Spielberg Shoah Foundation and received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Wilzig, who passed away in 2003 from multiple myeloma, also endowed the Wilzig Hospital at the Jersey City Medical Center, the Daughters of Miriam Center and the Jewish Home and Rehabilitation Center. 

His meteoric rise from penniless uneducated immigrant to the person whom Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel called “a man of courage and faith” had a profound effect on his son. And now, Wilzig’s extraordinary life story is being shared for all to read in the book “Unstoppable: Siggi B. Wilzig’s Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend” by Joshua M. Greene. 

Getting his father’s biography out there has been a lifelong passion for Wilzig, who says that he and his brother, sister and late mother kept an archive of Siggi’s milestones and accomplishments. Inspired by his role model’s fortitude and tenacity, Wilzig says that his dad is the reason for so many of his own life choices, and that he’s overjoyed to share his rags-to-riches story with the world. 

“The book epitomizes his resilience, hope, and coming back from the worst place imaginable,” he says. “My father had a grammar school education. Everything he did was self-taught. What he accomplished was like the equivalent of becoming a brain surgeon without ever having taken Biology 101.” 

From his music — which includes electronic dance music covers of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and The Youngbloods “Get Together,” among others — to his work with The Peaceman Foundation — a non-profit that battles hatred, violence and post-traumatic stress disorder — Wilzig has endeavored to take up the mantle in continuing his father’s legacy.

“Everything I’ve done has been inspired by this,” he says. “My mission is peace of mind for all humankind.” 

With “Unstoppable” now published, Wilzig says that he hopes that the message of his father’s heroic commitment to peace, love and justice lives on. 

“He would be so proud to see this. For him, my biggest hope that the book becomes globally read like ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’” says Wilzig. “Because in the end, it’s important to remember that kindness and love is contagious. If we do that, the world would be a better place.”