Simon Wiesenthal: A Life in Search of Justice

by Hella Pick

Simon Wiesenthal survived thirteen concentration camps and has since spent more than fifty years searching for Nazi war criminals and bringing them to trial. This comprehensive and objective biography chronicles Wiesenthal's early life and survival in the camps, recounts in gripping detail each of his major Nazi hunts, and evenhandedly examines the conflicting reputations -- as both hero and egomaniacal liar -- of this controversial and enigmatic public figure.

Genres: Holocaust, History, Biography, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 1996

Reviews

[Katharine Holden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oddly organized, but compelling and well-researched.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. Interesting.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a well-researched biography that is heavy on detail and careful to note where accounts differ with possible reasons why.

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simon Wiesenthal survived several extermination/concentration camps. His mother died in one.* He thought his wife perished. As the war ended and his camp was freed by the Americans he began helping to testify against SS guards and tracking them down. It turned into a life long passion.

This is not a hagiography as the author acknowledges that Wiesenthal has had some shortcomings. But, the author correctly points out that Wiesenthal has contributed much to our understanding of the holocaust and how it should be dealt with. There are evil people who probably would not have been brought to justice in this world were it not for the work of Wiesenthal. This is his story.

*I thought one of the most moving parts of the story was when Wiesenthal described how his mother was picked up while he was away from home and packed into a very crowded train bound for a concentration camp. The train sat on the edge of town for three days. The people inside the box cars calling for water but the guards would not let anyone approach. How anguished and helpless to know your elderly mother may be literally dying of thirst on a train car right on the edge of your town and you cannot do anything about it. Wiesenthal never knew if he mother perished in a box car or survived to die in the concentration camp.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this sometime in 2014 or 2015. I'm afraid I don't remember much about this book except that I liked it and recommend it.