Holocaust

SIMON WIESENTHAL 1908-2005

“When my life is over and I meet up with victims of the Holocaust, I shall have the privilege of saying to them, I have never forgotten you.” -Simon Wiesenthal

Simon Wiesenthal was born in Buczacz, Poland in 1908. He studied at the Prague Technical University and looked forward to a career as an architect. Instead, the Nazis invaded Europe forcing him and wife into the concentration camps. Simon Wiesenthal was one of the lucky few who survived the Nazi death camps of World War II. Unlike many other survivors, he did not return to his pre-war profession as an architect, but instead became the world famous Nazi hunter, the conscience and voice for not only the Holocaust’s 6,000,000 Jewish victims but for the millions of others who were murdered by the Nazis as well.

It is almost impossible to appreciate the full measure of Simon Wiesenthal’s contribution to the Jewish people and to the world. It’s not just his longevity. When he passed away at 96, he had outlived most of the perpetrators of the Nazi Holocaust he doggedly hunted.

In November 1977, The Simon Wiesenthal Center was founded. Today together with its renowned Museum of Tolerance, it is over a 400,000 member strong international center for Holocaust emembrance, the defense of human rights and the Jewish people. With offices throughout the world, The Wiesenthal Center carries on the continuing fight against bigotry and antisemitism and pursues an active agenda of related contemporary issues. “I have received many honors in my lifetime”, said Mr. Wiesenthal. “When I die, these honors will die with me. But the Simon Wiesenthal Center will live on as my legacy”.