The death of a hero: Simon Wiesenthal

For those of you who are young or not of Jewish decent, the name Simon Wiesenthal may not mean much. To people like me, a second generation American on my father’s side and a third on my mother’s side, both of European Jewish descent, he was a hero. He was a survivor of the Holocaust and spent the years after it hunting Nazi war Criminals with great success. What I find so fascinating about Wiesenthal was his reinvention of himself after the war. He had been subjected to the atrocities of 12 concentration camps (5 were actual death camps), he had attempted suicide twice without success while imprisoned by the Nazis, he and his wife lost 89 relatives through the actions of the Third Reich, yet after being liberated by American Forces Wiesenthal reinvented himself.

After the war, he reunited with his wife (who had been hidden in Poland, using her blonde hair to pose as an Aryan), had a family (which was such a significant act of hope after the pain and horror of the Holocaust), and began seeking justice for the many people who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazi regime. There is great controversy over his involvement in the capture of Adolf Eichman, but I feel that regardless of the truth (which can never be known), the fact that Eichman was found is a feat worthy of accolades to whoever negotiated his capture.

The dedication that Wiesenthal showed spending 50 years of his life pursuing the men and women who perpetrated the madness of genocide is startling to me. I don’t ask myself why he did it; I ask myself why more people didn’t. Retribution is not what was sought, but justice for crimes against humanity. The Nuremberg trials were incomplete with the escape of many top ranking Nazis. If given the same circumstance would I handle my life with such focus and purpose? This is a question I never want to be forced answer.

I leave you with this quote from the Council of Europe chairman Terry Davis,"Without Simon Wiesenthal's relentless effort to find Nazi criminals and bring them to justice, and to fight anti-Semitism and prejudice, Europe would never have succeeded in healing its wounds and reconciling itself... He was a soldier of justice, which is indispensable to our freedom, stability and peace."

Wiesenthal passed away on Tuesday, September 20th, 2005. He was 96.

A Sidenote:

I am looking into getting the HBO film in which Ben Kingsley plays Wiesenthal, called Murderers Among Us: the Simon Wiesenthal Story. If I can’t find it, I’m certain I can get my hands on the book from which it is based. Imagine being Ben Kingsley who has not only played Gandhi with such grace, complexity, and character, but to also have such a rich roll as Wiesenthal to flesh out. Kingsley is indeed talent, if you doubt my love of his acting abilities, please see Sexy Beast or House of Sand and Fog.