Editorial: A man who had a story to tell

Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005 | 9:09 a.m.

Simon Wiesenthal was born into a life of anti-Semitism, first from the Austro-Hungarian empire where he was born in 1908, later from conquering Russians and later from invading Germans. During World War II, he barely survived the Holocaust -- he spent nearly four years in five concentration camps. Together, he and his wife, who herself survived time in a forced labor camp, lost 89 relatives to the Nazis. Emerging from the camps weighing less than 100 pounds after being liberated by American forces in 1945, Wiesenthal dedicated his life not to vengeance, but to justice.

He never went back to his pre-war career as an architectural engineer, but spent the next 60 years tracking down Nazi war criminals so they could be tried in court for their atrocities. But that was only part of his post-World War II life. He was just as well known for educating the world about the Holocaust.

Wiesenthal died Tuesday at home in Vienna at age 96. We believe there was a reason he was spared from death so many times during and after the war: Wiesenthal taught the world that the very depths of human depravity are not confined to antiquity. He made us understand they are with us even today, and that we should ever be on guard against them rising up again.

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