Forward Newspaper Online: Simon Wiesenthal%2C 96%2C Legendary Nazi Hunter
The death of Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal brings to a close a storied career shrouded in achievement, in dazzle and perhaps even in mystery. Wiesenthal's life, like those of all Holocaust survivors, may be described in three chapters: "Before," "During" and "After." The last is the most mysterious.
Wiesenthal insisted that Nazi criminals be brought to justice, not to death. He intuited that justice was needed — or at least the attempt at limited, imperfect justice — if the world was to rebuild after the destruction he had witnessed. He did not cooperate with those seeking revenge, even though their path was more certain, more immediate, more passionate and perhaps even more just.
But after the first trials and the grand theater they represented, and the much heralded successor trials, there was much less enthusiasm for facing the past, much more for getting on with the future.
After Eichmann's capture and the fame brought about by the trial, Wiesenthal was able to reopen his office and greatly increase support for the modest center. Though the numbers are not precise, it is said that Wiesenthal was involved in bringing 1,100 Nazis to justice. Some were major criminals; others were minor. One, Josef Megele, eluded him. In fact, Mengele's death in a drowning accident, a simple death without suffering, violated Wiesenthal's sense of justice.
Wiesenthal said that he wanted to go to his death being able to say with absolute conviction that he had not forgotten — not the victims and not their killers. This, above all else, he certainly did.
