"He Alone Remained to Remember"
Today, at the age of 96, Simon Wiesenthal died. He survived the concentration camps, detained in 12 of them to be exact, and when he survived, dedicated his life to catching the men and women responsible for the Holocaust and making the world remember what had happened. In all, his research and hard work led to the capture of 1,100 Nazis, including Eichmann and the man who arrested Anne Frank and her family.
All to often he was asked "why?" and "how can you spend your life doing this?" 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'."
Such a beautiful man.
All to often he was asked "why?" and "how can you spend your life doing this?" 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'."
Such a beautiful man.