Yad Vashem has learned with sadness of the passing of Simon Wiesenthal, in Vienna. Wiesenthal dedicated his life to bringing Nazi criminals to justice and to ensuring that the memory of the Holocaust will never fade.
The symbol of “Nazi-hunting,” Wiesenthal began his mission immediately after the war ended, and did not rest until his final days. Through his tireless efforts, many Nazi war criminals were prevented from escaping their due punishment, compelled instead to face the force of international law. He was unique in an environment that did not do enough to bring the guilty to justice. In his determination to expose the crimes of Nazis, Wiesenthal was the world’s conscience, determined to document the full extent of Nazi war crimes, and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Yad Vashem mourns this tremendous loss to the Jewish and international community.
In the mid-1950’s, Wiesenthal gave Yad Vashem hundreds of files and material from his the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria, which he closed. In 1960 he gave Yad Vashem a written testimony, and in 1986 he gave Yad Vashem audio testimony.