The Black Republican

I humbly offer a few thoughts on the passing of this most important man, with apologies that I can not begin to explain his relevance, and with the hope that I do him some manner of justice.

Simon Wiesenthal, noted Nazi hunter has passed.

Mr. Wiesenthal survived five concentration camps, and dedicated the remainder of his life to finding the criminals that escaped prosecution after World War II ended.

The horror of the holocaust took place so many years ago that I feel certain that many today think of it only as history, an ugly blip on the historical radar with no relevance to this time. But, then some at the time knew it would be unfathomable to those who were not there.

In the final paragraph of his memoirs, he quotes what an SS corporal told him in 1944: "You would tell the truth [about the death camps] to the people in America. That's right. And you know what would happen, Wiesenthal? They wouldn't believe you. They'd say you were mad. Might even put you into an asylum. How can anyone believe this terrible business - unless he has lived through it?"

And Wiesenthal noted how time had eroded the understanding of those events not so many years ago.

"We are living in a time of the trivialization of the word 'Holocaust,'" he told AP in 1999. "What happened to the Jews cannot be compared with all the other crimes. Every Jew had a death sentence without a date."

This was before Senator Dhurbin made his famous remarks, making a false connection between this war and that time, a not so trivial mistatement. There is a connection between now and then, the case is put forth clearly in this article from the Jerusalem Post which Chris presented earlier. Today's Islamofacists owe a great deal of their philosophical origin to the Nazis. But, even these madmen have not approached the level of crimes committed by the Nazis; though they aspire to achieve the same result. And we must fight them back with the same resolution that guided Mr. Wiesenthal for so many years. His work remains unfinished, some of those Nazi criminals live on, some will have to meet justice in the afterlife. But, those not caught in this world remain as a pollution on the human spirit, and their disease spreads even without their further involvement. Until the racism and religious prejudice which fueled the Nazis is extinguished none of us are safe. Protecting the Jewish people is the bellwether of humanity today, if you are not with them, you are against all of mankind. I believe that to be true, if only because they are historically the most oppressed of all peoples. It starts there, if they are not allowed dignity and freedom, then no other group is safe. Each victory against racism and prejudice bolsters our strength to battle against the next example. That is the temporal war we fight, freedom and dignity for the least of us, in order to gain the same for all.

Mr. Wiesenthal believed there is also a cosmic reason to fight the good fight.

Wiesenthal is often asked to explain his motives for becoming a Nazi hunter. According to Clyde Farnsworth in the New York Times Magazine (February 2, 1964), 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.'"

And he didn't, and his work made certain that we did not either. Though there are others who worked for the same cause, Mr. Wiesenthal's is the face we put to the effort. He was the most famous, and perhaps the most diligent, and enduring of the Nazi hunters. But, he was not alone. Kudos to all who took part. His visage and reputation for results remind us of the evil that took place, and of the determination to not let it go unanswered. He will be missed. But, not forgotten.

The horror of that time can not fit into the meanings of mere words, that the human spirit is greater than that horror is a blessing. Just living on afterwards is a victory. Fighting back, well for some, it was a necessary part of that life. Wiesenthal was the front man, the one putting himself in the hot seat, he lived the remainder of his life in memory of those lost, but to the benefit of us all.

We can't all forego making a living in order to dedicate our lives to finishing the work of bringing murderers to justice, (someone must still produce), he did. So, in the highest terms, we honor Wiesenthal that he did such work.

However, one thing we can do, we can all remember. Never forget.

Never forget!