Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal dies at 96
Helped capture more than 1,000 war criminals including Adolf Eichmann
Updated: 6:52 a.m. ET Sept. 20, 2005
LOS ANGELES - Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who helped track down Nazi war criminals following World War II, then spent the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people, died Tuesday. He was 96.
Wiesenthal died in his sleep at his home in Vienna, said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
I think hell be remembered as the conscience of the Holocaust. In a way he became the permanent representative of the victims of the Holocaust, determined to bring the perpetrators of the greatest crime to justice, Hier told The Associated Press.
Wiesenthal, who was an architect before World War II, changed his lifes mission after the war, dedicating himself to trying to track down Nazi war criminals and to being a voice for the 6 million Jews who died during the onslaught. He himself lost 89 relatives in the Holocaust.
Wiesenthal spent more than 50 years hunting Nazi war criminals, speaking out against neo-Nazism and racism, and remembering the Jewish experience as a lesson for humanity. Through his work, he said, some 1,100 Nazi war criminals were brought to justice.
When history looks back I want people to know the Nazis werent able to kill millions of people and get away with it, he once said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Wiesenthal brought justice to those who had escaped justice.
He acted on behalf of 6 million people who could no longer defend themselves, ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. The state of Israel, the Jewish people and all those who oppose racism recognized Simon Wiesenthals unique contribution to making our planet a better place.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9404749/
Helped capture more than 1,000 war criminals including Adolf Eichmann
Updated: 6:52 a.m. ET Sept. 20, 2005
LOS ANGELES - Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who helped track down Nazi war criminals following World War II, then spent the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people, died Tuesday. He was 96.
Wiesenthal died in his sleep at his home in Vienna, said Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.
I think hell be remembered as the conscience of the Holocaust. In a way he became the permanent representative of the victims of the Holocaust, determined to bring the perpetrators of the greatest crime to justice, Hier told The Associated Press.
Wiesenthal, who was an architect before World War II, changed his lifes mission after the war, dedicating himself to trying to track down Nazi war criminals and to being a voice for the 6 million Jews who died during the onslaught. He himself lost 89 relatives in the Holocaust.
Wiesenthal spent more than 50 years hunting Nazi war criminals, speaking out against neo-Nazism and racism, and remembering the Jewish experience as a lesson for humanity. Through his work, he said, some 1,100 Nazi war criminals were brought to justice.
When history looks back I want people to know the Nazis werent able to kill millions of people and get away with it, he once said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Wiesenthal brought justice to those who had escaped justice.
He acted on behalf of 6 million people who could no longer defend themselves, ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. The state of Israel, the Jewish people and all those who oppose racism recognized Simon Wiesenthals unique contribution to making our planet a better place.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9404749/
