A Moment of Clarity

We lost a giant of the 20th Century in Simon Wiesenthal. He did as much to remind people of mankind's inhumanity to mankind as anyone else on the planet. How will he be remembered in 5 years? 10 years? 25? He took it upon himself to remind people of the nature of genocide - the purposeful elimination of an entire group of people from the planet.

According to Clyde Farnsworth in the New York Times Magazine (February 2, 1964), Wiesenthal once spent the Sabbath at the home of a former Mauthausen inmate, now a well-to-do jewelry manufacturer. After dinner his host said, "Simon, if you had gone back to building houses, you'd be a millionaire. Why didn't you?" "You're a religious man," replied Wiesenthal. "You believe in God and life after death. I also believe. When we come to the other world and meet the millions of Jews who died in the camps and they ask us, 'What have you done?', there will be many answers. You will say, 'I became a jeweler', Another will say, I have smuggled coffee and American cigarettes', Another will say, 'I built houses', But I will say, 'I didn't forget you'."

So, who do you think gets more airtime in the 'memorial segment' of the news today? Peter Jennings. That's right. The guy spent most of his later career reading off a teleprompter gets lauded and prominent coverage of his memorial service in New York City. I hear that all the famous people were there.

The media fawns over one of its own on the day when people should really take time to realize what Simon Wiesenthal did with his life.

He suffered at the hands of the Nazis. He was liberated after years of hell in concentration camps. And yet, he never sought vengence against those Nazis.

He sought justice. And he got it. More than 1,000 Nazi war criminals were brought to justice through his efforts. His work helped bring Eichmann to justice:

In 1953, Wiesenthal received information that Eichmann was in Argentina from people who had spoken to him there. He passed this information on to Israel through the Israeli embassy in Vienna and in 1954 also informed Nahum Goldmann, but the FBI had received information that Eichmann was in Damascus, Syria. It was not until 1959 that Israel was informed by Germany that Eichmann was in Buenos Aires living under the alias of Ricardo Klement. He was captured there by Israeli agents and brought to Israel for trial. Eichmann was found guilty of mass murder and executed on May 31, 1961.

He also brought to justice the Nazi soldier who arrested Anne Frank.

Simon went on to found a Museum of Tolerance, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center is a leading Holocaust studies center.

Simon, we will not forget you, we will not forget what you did, and what you represented.

UPDATE:
A memorial in Simon's honor will be conducted in Vienna, Austria, where he passed away. Dozens of world leaders are expected to attend and many have already sent letters of condolences:

Wiesenthal's relatives were expected to attend the ceremony at the capital's Central Cemetery, together with Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, Mayor Michael Haeupl and dozens of ambassadors.

Security was tight at Vienna Central Cemetery's ceremonial hall, where the coffin would lay in state. Two large menorahs and several wreaths, including two large ones with purple and white flowers, adorned the otherwise undecorated room. Their ribbons, in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag, carried greetings from the state of Israel and from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.

Austria's president and Foreign Ministry, the Polish ambassador and Vienna's mayor were among others who had sent lavish wreaths.

Tributes to Wiesenthal poured in, including from U.S. President George W. Bush, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

"He felt he had to do something for those who didn't come back," Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld told The Associated Press. "He was a witness."

Technorati: Simon Wiesenthal, holocaust, nazi hunter.