Simon Wiesenthal: Survivor Of The Holocaust

706 Words2 Pages

Simon Wiesenthal was a child during World War I, he witnessed the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and he committed himself to finding and persecuting Nazi war criminals. The Holocaust (1933-1945) began several years before the second world war (1939-
1945), started by Nazi controlled Germany and their leader, fanatic anti-semitist Adolf Hitler, they attempted to systematically exterminate the Jews and any that the Nazi party deemed as
‘lesser’ or those they viewed as enemies to the Nazi government. Simon Wiesenthal survived the
Holocaust, he was moved between thirteen different concentration camps, he was nearly
executed …show more content…

Simon would manage to escape but would be recaptured after several months (“Wiesenthal2”). He would make two suicide attempts, both failing, but leaving scars on both wrists (“Simon2”). Wiesenthal would be rescued by a American Army Division that headed through the camp he was in, Mauthausen, “The Mountain of Death”, it is said he touched the star of one the American vehicles before collapsing in a nearby soldier’s arms. After semi recovering from the effects of disease and starvation, Simon volunteered in a war crimes unit. Wiesenthal would immediately begin collecting case files, evidence, and the names of Nazi war criminals (“Simon1”). Wiesenthal would hunt for Adolf Eichmann, the planner for
Hitler’s “Final Solution”, for many years before finding him Buenos Aires where he was arrested by Israeli agents and sent to Israel, where he was tried and executed.

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