Legacy Lives On

Y.3

J im Menden hall/courtesy Si

Dedicated Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal
dies at 96

evil that had been done.
"Wiesenthal challenged the legal system
to pursue the perpetrators who hid or fled
§
from prosecution. And it was because of
his insistence that the U.S. Department of
Justice's Office of Special Investigations,
which has prosecuted and deported many
Nazis who fled to the U.S., was estab-
lished."
Rabbi Hier told the Jerusalem Post that
Mr. Wiesenthal's family, who live in Israel,
were en route to Vienna to retrieve his
body. He will be buried in Israel, and a
memorial at the center will be held at a
later date.
Rabbi Hier believes. Mr. Wiesenthal's
contribution to history is best described as
keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive
during the crucial years.
"One must understand that before writers
like
Wiesel or directors like Spielberg created
Simon Wiesenthal stands in the Holocaust section of the Museum
movies and books, the Holocaust was on the
of Tolerance in Los Angeles at its opening in February 1993.
way to being forgotten. But when Simon
went after Nazis, it made news.
SHANI ROSENFELDER
"He kept the memory alive when no one had time
Jerusalem Post
to hunt Nazis. In the 1950s, the U.S. was busy with
the Cold War, while Israel had its own troubles with
Vienna
the Arabs," he added.
imon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor
"He just took the job," Rabbi Hier said. "It was a
who helped track down numerous Nazi war
job no one else wanted. He was the only full-time
criminals following World War II and spent
Nazi hunter. A day after World War II ended,
the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism
Wiesenthal handed over a crumbling list of Nazis to
and prejudice against all people, died Tuesday at age
U.S. Army intelligence. He also cooperated with
96.
Israeli authorities, especially the Mossad.
Mr. Wiesenthal passed away in his sleep at his
"Simon did not want to be a Nazi hunter, he was
home in Vienna, Austria, according to Rabbi
an architect by profession. However, the Holocaust
Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon
forced him into action; 89 members of his family
Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
were murdered by the Nazis. He couldn't forget; he
"From the survivor standpoint, he played the most believed someone had to go after the criminals,"
concrete active role and brought the consciousness
Rabbi Hier said.
of the Holocaust to the world," said Rabbi Charles
According to Rabbi Hier, "For years, he was all by
Rosenzveig, founder and executive director of the
himself. He was even forced to close the center sev-
Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills.
eral times in the past because he didn't have money.
"He had a very active life, and he never permitted
In the mid '50s, he even received a tip that Adolf
the watering down of the Holocaust."
Eichmann was in Argentina but was unable to
Bill Weiss of West Bloomfield, a Holocaust sur-
afford the trip at the time."
vivor, spent time in the Janowska concentration
Rabbi Hier said that until age 92-93, Mr.
camp where 200,000 Jews were killed near Lvov,
Wiesenthal came into the office every day. "In the
Ukraine — the same camp where Mr. Wiesenthal
last couple of years his health deteriorated, but his
was a prisoner.
mind remained clear," he said.
"He was a hero, not to be afraid to go after all
Mr. Wiensenthal was perhaps best known for his
those perpetrators," Weiss said.
role in tracking down Eichmann. He often was
Wendy Wagenheim, president of the Jewish
accused of exaggerating his role in Eichmann's cap-
Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, said,
ture. He did not claim sole responsibility, but said
"When Americans and Europeans wanted to get on
he knew by 1954 where Eichmann was.
with their lives after WWII, Wiesenthal was a con-
Eichmann's capture "was a teamwork of many
stant voice reminding the world to not forget the

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who did not know each other," Mr. Wiesenthal told
the Associated Press in 1972. "I do not know if and
to what extent reports I sent to Israel were used."
Aside from Eichmann, among the 1,100 Nazi war
criminals Mr. Wiesenthal helped bring to justice,
were the commanders of Treblinka and Sobibor, and
also the Nazi who arrested Anne Frank, Karl
Silberbauer.
On behalf of the Israeli government, Deputy
Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs in charge of
Anti-Semitism, Rabbi Michael Melchior, issued the
following statement: "The Israeli government
mourns the passing of a great man. One of the
greatest figures in the Jewish world has passed away.
Simon Wiesenthal was a man who emerged from
the infernal concentration camps with the purpose
of pursuing justice.
According to Rabbi Melchior, "Wiesenthal, more
than anyone else in the world, represented the belief
that anti-Semitism and crimes against humanity are
not mitigated with passing time, nor are they ever
forgiven."
Yad Vashem also responded to Mr. Wiesenthal's
passing: "Yad Vashem has learned with sadness of
the passing of Simon Wiesenthal in Vienna.
Wiesenthal dedicated his life to bringing Nazi crimi-
nals to justice and to ensuring that the memory of
the Holocaust will never fade.
"The symbol of Nazi-Hunting, Wiesenthal began
his mission immediately after the war ended, and
did not rest until his final days. Through his tireless
efforts, many Nazi war criminals were prevented
from escaping their due punishment, compelled
instead to face the force of international law. He was
unique in an environment that did not do enough
to bring the guilty to justice.
"In his determination to expose the crimes of
Nazis, Wiesenthal was the world's conscience, deter-
mined to document the full extent of Nazi war
crimes, and hold those responsible accountable for
their actions. Yad Vashem mourns this tremendous
loss to the Jewish and international community.
"In the mid-1950's, Wiesenthal gave Yad Vashem
hundreds of files and material from his Jewish
Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria,
which he closed. In 1960, he gave Yad Vashem a
written testimony and, in 1986, he gave Yad Vashem
audio testimony," the statement concluded.
"As a Holocaust survivor, a Jew, and a world citi-
zen, Simon Wiesenthal surely will be remembered as
a blessing to mankind who came out of one of the
darkest periods of human history," said JCCouncil's
Wagenheim.

JN StaffWriter Harry Kirsbaum contributed
to this report.

JN

9/22

2005

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