What do you think?
Rate this book
Justice, not vengeance
English (translation)
Original German
Original German
372 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
5 people are currently reading
279 people want to read
About the author
Simon Wiesenthal
54 books112 followersSimon Wiesenthal, KBE, was an Austrian-Jewish architectural engineer and Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a Nazi hunter who pursued Nazi war criminals in an effort to bring them to justice.
Following four and a half years in the German concentration camps such as Janowska, Plaszow, and Mauthausen during World War II, Wiesenthal dedicated most of his life to tracking down and gathering information on fugitive Nazis so that they could be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 1947, he co-founded the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria, in order to gather information for future war crime trials. Later he opened Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna. Wiesenthal wrote The Sunflower, which describes a life-changing event he experienced when he was in the camp.
A biography by Guy Walters asserts that many of Wiesenthal's claims regarding his education, wartime experiences and Nazi hunting exploits are false or exaggerated. Walters calls Wiesenthal’s claims "an illusion mounted for a good cause". It is difficult to establish a reliable narrative of Wiesenthal’s life due to the inconsistencies between his three memoirs which are in turn all contradicted by contemporary records. It is partly thanks to Wiesenthal that the Holocaust has been remembered and properly documented.
Wiesenthal died in his sleep at age 96 in Vienna on September 20, 2005, and was buried in the city of Herzliya in Israel on 23 September. He is survived by his daughter, Paulinka Kriesberg, and three grandchildren. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, located in Los Angeles in the United States, is named in his honor.
Following four and a half years in the German concentration camps such as Janowska, Plaszow, and Mauthausen during World War II, Wiesenthal dedicated most of his life to tracking down and gathering information on fugitive Nazis so that they could be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 1947, he co-founded the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria, in order to gather information for future war crime trials. Later he opened Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna. Wiesenthal wrote The Sunflower, which describes a life-changing event he experienced when he was in the camp.
A biography by Guy Walters asserts that many of Wiesenthal's claims regarding his education, wartime experiences and Nazi hunting exploits are false or exaggerated. Walters calls Wiesenthal’s claims "an illusion mounted for a good cause". It is difficult to establish a reliable narrative of Wiesenthal’s life due to the inconsistencies between his three memoirs which are in turn all contradicted by contemporary records. It is partly thanks to Wiesenthal that the Holocaust has been remembered and properly documented.
Wiesenthal died in his sleep at age 96 in Vienna on September 20, 2005, and was buried in the city of Herzliya in Israel on 23 September. He is survived by his daughter, Paulinka Kriesberg, and three grandchildren. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, located in Los Angeles in the United States, is named in his honor.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 20, 2015
A most passionate and moving account of the pursuit of Nazi war criminals.
What is most commendable is that Weisenthal was after legal justice, never after arbitrary punishment. Summary justice inevitably happened in all occupied countries after the war – but this is not the aim of Weisenthal.
It was truly a team effort as well as a prolonged attempt to locate these murderers. Many had changed identities and were dispersed in several Arab countries (which actively protected them) and in North and South America. It is interesting how a fair number chose suicide just prior to being apprehended or after capture and trial. The trials also helped to disseminate the true scope of Nazi cruelty during World War II to the public arena.
Many of the victims came to Weisenthal several years after the war when the trace of the perpetrator(s) had vanished. To Weisenthal’s credit he broadens the scope of the Holocaust to point out that Gypsies, Poles and several other groups were the victims of Nazism.
Perhaps the book loses some resonance in the later stages when Weisenthal explains some of the persecutions he faced from Austrian politicians in the post war era.
One wonders if any of the Nazi criminals ever acknowledged the bestiality of what they did? The interview with Kurt Waldhiem is particularly instructive regarding this.
What is most commendable is that Weisenthal was after legal justice, never after arbitrary punishment. Summary justice inevitably happened in all occupied countries after the war – but this is not the aim of Weisenthal.
It was truly a team effort as well as a prolonged attempt to locate these murderers. Many had changed identities and were dispersed in several Arab countries (which actively protected them) and in North and South America. It is interesting how a fair number chose suicide just prior to being apprehended or after capture and trial. The trials also helped to disseminate the true scope of Nazi cruelty during World War II to the public arena.
Many of the victims came to Weisenthal several years after the war when the trace of the perpetrator(s) had vanished. To Weisenthal’s credit he broadens the scope of the Holocaust to point out that Gypsies, Poles and several other groups were the victims of Nazism.
Perhaps the book loses some resonance in the later stages when Weisenthal explains some of the persecutions he faced from Austrian politicians in the post war era.
One wonders if any of the Nazi criminals ever acknowledged the bestiality of what they did? The interview with Kurt Waldhiem is particularly instructive regarding this.
October 3, 2021
Þessi bók er alveg svakalega upplýsandi í sambandi við helförina. Sumar lýsingar í henni eru þó svo svaðalegar að þær eru alls ekki fyrir viðkvæma, en þá á ég við skelfilegar lýsingar á því hvernig farið var með fanga í Auschwitz. Stærsti hluti bókar fjallar samt meira um atvik eftir stríð og vinnu Wiesenthal við að hafa upp á nasistum sem sumir hverjir flúðu til S-Ameríku eða bara Sýrlands á meðan aðrir héldu áfram að lifa sínu daglegu lífi í Þýskalandi eða Austurríki.
February 5, 2025
Incroyable témoignage du plus grand chasseur de nazis de l’histoire pour quiconque s’intéresse de loin ou de près à la seconde guerre mondiale. Quelques chapitres du milieu m’ont paru un peu moins bien structurés et m’ont perdue, mais de manière générale cet ouvrage reste extrêmement intéressant en enrichissant en termes de transmission de mémoire.
November 20, 2019
Loses a point for Wisenthal’s questionable history
July 30, 2022
Lo scopo della vita di Simon wiesenthal
April 13, 2015
Un libro che mette il lettore nell'ottica di doversi confrontare col senso di giustizia, con quello della vendetta, passando da un capitolo all'altro, da un dossier all'altro, da un nazista all'altro.
Simon Wiesenthal è sempre lucidissimo nel suo raccontare, nell'esporre le motivazioni che lo hanno mosso e che gli fanno preferire sempre la giustizia degli uomini e non la vendetta di processi sommari, anche quando la giustizia degli uomini non porta alla condanna.
Un libro da leggere nelle scuole per parlare di antisemitismo e di lotta all'antisemitismo e per insegnare cosa fu davvero il nazismo in rapporto al suo ideale malato di cancellare dalla faccia della terra gli ebrei.
Un libro che mi ha sconvolto e che mi ha messo di fronte a tutti i miei studi e pensieri e ricordi sulla seconda guerra mondiale.
Da leggere assolutamente.
Il resto della recensione https://amacadieuterpe.wordpress.com/...
Simon Wiesenthal è sempre lucidissimo nel suo raccontare, nell'esporre le motivazioni che lo hanno mosso e che gli fanno preferire sempre la giustizia degli uomini e non la vendetta di processi sommari, anche quando la giustizia degli uomini non porta alla condanna.
Un libro da leggere nelle scuole per parlare di antisemitismo e di lotta all'antisemitismo e per insegnare cosa fu davvero il nazismo in rapporto al suo ideale malato di cancellare dalla faccia della terra gli ebrei.
Un libro che mi ha sconvolto e che mi ha messo di fronte a tutti i miei studi e pensieri e ricordi sulla seconda guerra mondiale.
Da leggere assolutamente.
Il resto della recensione https://amacadieuterpe.wordpress.com/...
December 17, 2016
The historical content of this book, is a good reason to understand the Shoah. Wiesental talk about the several situations lived as a jewish prosecuted. Several texts, documents, letters, images joined with personal stories build the Wiesental's self-biography. Many people thinks that Wiesenthal go far away about this theme, but We are nobody to question about a dificult theme. Any texts can be very obsessive but, the justice was the last hope to these that now are joined under the Yad Vashem.
to-keep-reference
March 16, 2016Comentado en Sobre la Violencia Pág.146-147
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews