Fall/Winter 2005

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER SNIDER SOCIAL ACTION INSTITUTE
www.wiesenthal.com
Fall/Winter 2005 Vol 26 No 2 Circ 250,000
Simon Wiesenthal k’’z
1908 - 2005
from the editor-in-chief
W
ord of Simon
Wiesenthal’s passing
at 96 generated
thousands of articles and
heartfelt accolades from the
four corners of the globe.
From elderly Holocaust
survivors who walked with us at his funeral in
Herzeliya, to memorials in Los Angeles, New York,
Florida, Paris, and Vienna, to a special Opera
tribute in Bangkok, Thailand, Mr. Wiesenthal
in death confirmed what he experienced in life:
unlike political leaders, ‘the people’ have always
understood and identified with Simon’s core
mission: Justice, Not Vengeance. Post-World War II
Jews, myself included, venerated Simon for making
sure that Jewish blood was not cheap and that
someone out there made sure their arrogant and
unrepentant murderers wouldn’t sleep so soundly.
When you review Response’s special section on
Simon’s life and passing (see pgs 7-10), please pause
to reflect on the incredible price paid by Simon’s
late wife Cyla (who knew Simon for 87 years) and
their daughter Paulina, as he pursued his lonely and
dangerous quest for justice.
May Paulina Kreisberg and the entire family be
comforted by the outpouring of love and solidarity
with Mr. Wiesenthal’s unparalelled commitment to
his people and all humanity.
When Mr. Wiesenthal agreed to bestow his
name on our institution in 1977, he did so with one
caveat: That we would be an activist organization, as
concerned with today’s haters and Nazis as the old. In
keeping with our sacred trust, we are premiering the
groundbreaking documentary on renewed European
antisemitism, Ever Again (see pg 3). Iran’s growing
nuclear and terrorist threat (see pg 11), the real
threat of mainline Protestants anti-Israel campaign
(see pg 11) and the new threat of US-born terrorists
targeting Jews (see pg 2) highlight this issue.
As always, please visit our dynamic website daily
for breaking developments at: www.wiesenthal.com.
With best personal wishes,
Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Associate Dean
Terrorist Threats Hit Home:
“We dodged a number
of bullets…”
- Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton
A
terrorist attack was averted this past
Yom Kippur as a cell of American-born
terrorists, led by an incarcerated Islamist
extremist plotted to attack a Los Angeles
synagogue a half-mile away from the Simon
Wiesenthal Center’s headquarters during
services on Judaism’s holiest day.
LAPD Chief Bratton and Los Angeles Mayor
brief Jewish leaders and the media about
At a news conference at the Wiesenthal Villaraigosa
terrorist threats.
Center, after a briefing for 100 Jewish leaders,
“The targeting of a house of prayer on
measures were announced to increase the
protection of synagogues, Jewish schools, and Yom Kippur is an ominous development and
other sites during the Jewish High Holidays underscores how critical it is that the ‘War on
by Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, Terror’ must be won, if Americans are to be secure.
Los Angeles Police Department Chief, William Now we are further challenged by homegrown
Bratton, LA City Councilman, Jack Weiss, terrorists emerging from the criminal population
representatives of Homeland Security, and within the walls of a state prison. The last thing
America needs in its struggle
the FBI. “Our community
against terrorism is accessibility
deeply appreciates the message
to a criminal population by
sent to would-be terrorists by
religious fanatics seeking to
Mayor Villaraigosa and Chief
bring terrorism to our streets,”
Bratton,” said Rabbi Marvin
cautioned Rabbi Cooper.
Hier, SWC Founder and Dean.
Soon after these developments,
Four men linked to an
President Bush delivered a major
extremist Islamic groups in
speech on terrorism where he
California’s Folsom State Prison,
outlined the use of terrorist
were indicted on charges related
propaganda by Islamic radicals
to threatened attacks against US
“to blame their own failures on
military installations in Southern
the West and America and on
California, the Israeli Consulate,
the Jews,” adding, “the militants
El Al Airlines at Los Angeles’
are aided, as well, by elements of
International Airport, and area
the Arab news media, that incite
synagogues. Following the
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
federal grand jury indictment of speaking at the Memorial Service hatred and anti-Semitism, that
feed conspiracy theories….”
the four, the Wiesenthal Center for Simon Wiesenthal.
Within hours of this speech, New York
urged officials in 10 states including California,
New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, announced new
Arizona, and Colorado to re-evaluate which measures to secure New Yorkers and their city’s
subway system from threatened attacks. ■
clergy can get access to prison populations.
RESPONSE
HEADQUARTERS
INTERNATIONAL OFFICES
Rabbi Abraham Cooper Editor-in-Chief
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Action Institute
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european antisemitism
“I Never Thought That
I Would Live to See Such Hatred
of Jews Again In My Lifetime.”
- Simon Wiesenthal, October 2004, Vienna, Austria
Rabbi Hier also criticized the role of the
European media’s incitement against Israel and
her Jewish supporters. He pointed out that even
when shown to be untrue and causing violence
against Jews on the streets of Western Europe,
there were no consequences at any level. ■
Ever Again Documentary
Exposes Europe’s New
Antisemitism
A
s events swept Europe this summer
including the July 7th suicide bombings in
London, the Wiesenthal Center’s Moriah
Films was completing location filming of its
dramatic and timely documentary, Ever Again.
S
ixty years after the survivors of Nazi
death camps stumbled into the arms of
Allied soldiers, a mere six decades after the
Holocaust when one-third of its entire Jewish
population was murdered, Europe is witness to
a new onslaught of antisemitism. Despite their
meager numbers, European Jews are targets for
far more hate crimes than the combined attacks
on Christians and Muslims.
AP Photo/ Martin Rickett
A police officer patrols Rainsough Jewish Cemetery in
Prestwich, England, June 2005, after vandals pushed over
and smashed up to 100 gravestones.
In June, Rabbi Marvin Hier, (pictured top, left
screen) was chosen as a United States delegate to
the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe’s (OSCE) 2005 Conference on
Antisemitism and Other Forms of Intolerance,
in recognition of the crucial role the Wiesenthal
Center has played in combating antisemitism
and to tap its expertise in tolerance education.
The US delegation, headed by New York
Governor, George Pataki, helped to diffuse
efforts by Belgium, Holland, the UK, and
Canada to marginalize the issue of antisemitism
at future international gatherings, to focus
primarily on Islamaphobia. Jewish NGOs,
including the Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi
Cooper and Mark Weitzman, SWC Task Force
Against Hate & Terrorism Director, joined in
the lobbying effort to ensure that the growing
menace of Islamist Jew hatred as well as the
continued threat posed by Europe’s neoNazis and skinheads, be confronted head-on
- politically, socially, and educationally. In the
end, antisemitism remained on the front burner
of this important international agency.
In his formal presentation, Rabbi Hier
recommended practical solutions to combat
antisemitism. They included the public posting
of an OSCE compliance record sheet that would
track each country’s implementation record on
combating hate; the establishment of a museum
resource center in every country to help educate
and build awareness; the establishment of an
OSCE multimedia and multilingual lending
library on the Holocaust for distribution to
schools and religious centers; the creation of a
poster series on the Holocaust for distribution to
all OSCE member countries; and the commitment
to convene future conferences to encourage
greater interaction between communities.
L-R: Moriah Films Director, Richard Trank; Rabbi Marvin
Hier; and “Ever Again” narrator, Kevin Costner.
Narrated by Academy Award™ winning actor/
director, Kevin Costner, Ever Again presents
a provocative look at the current resurgence of
violent antisemitism throughout Europe. The
film focuses on the role played by Islamist
ideology and preachers in major cities like
London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam in
fueling antisemitic hate and violence.
A sketch on French television by popular comic Dieudonné
dressed like an Orthodox Jew raising his arm in a Nazi
salute while shouting “Isra-heil.” Religious Jews in France
have been targets of taunting and hate crimes.
The documentary’s Writer/Director and
Executive Producer of Moriah Films, Richard
Trank, filmed in England, France, Holland,
Belgium, and Germany. His crew interviewed
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european antisemitism
victims of the new antisemitism, government
officials, Jewish community leaders, and
finally perpetrators of antisemitic acts which
have included physical attacks, synagogue and
Jewish community center fire-bombings, and the
vandalism of Jewish homes and businesses.
French Jewish activist Sammy Ghozlan and Richard Trank at
the site of the Drancy memorial to Jews who were held there
prior to being deported to Auschwitz. Pictured right are
French youth who live in what is now public housing and
are unaware of Drancyʼs history.
Ever Again – A Powerful
Expose on European
Antisemitism Reveals:
■
■
■
■
■
■
Public school teachers in the Netherlands
and France fear teaching the Holocaust
because of threats made by Moslem
students and their parents.
Key interviews with Harvard University Law
Professor, Alan Dershowitz; French Interior
Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy; British Member of
Parliament, Louise Ellman; Dr. Judea Pearl, father
of murdered Wall Street Journalist Danny Pearl;
Ziaddin Sardur, a leading moderate Moslem
intellectual and author; and Rabbi Marvin Hier,
provide timely and incisive perspectives.
Ever Again also explores the phenomenon
of how antisemitism has shifted from the Right
to the Left of Europe’s political spectrum, while
reviewing the nature and scope of the threat to
Jewish communities from today’s neo-Nazis. ■
London Mayor Justifies
Terrorism After 7/7 Attacks;
‘Moderates’ Demand End to
UK Holocaust Memorial Day
N
ot even murderous homegrown suicide
bombers could deter London Mayor, Ken
Livingstone, from justifying terrorism.
In an interview with Sky Television, Livingstone
recently said that he saw no difference between
the Hamas terror organization and Israel’s
ruling Likud party stating, “…the Israelis are
leading the stubborn line…the Likud and
Hamas are two sides of the same coin.”
Jewish men who wear yarmulkes or
women who wear head coverings or
religious jewelry, are verbally and
sometimes physically assaulted on a
regular basis on the streets.
A link between Islamic extremists and
neo-Nazis in several countries, where
these two groups are working together in
the one area they have in common:
hatred of the Jews.
The increasing number of European academics,
artists, writers and political leaders who aid
and abet the campaign to isolate and debase
Israel and Zionist supporters with academic
and economic boycotts.
For information on Ever Again
screenings, call 800.900.9036 or
go to www.wiesenthal.com
Passengers leave Edgeware Road tube station in London
after an explosion, July 7, 2005.
criticism of Israel’s government, he said that
criticism of any government that was “based on
ethnic cleansing” was “absolutely valid.”
“
When pressed on his
criticism of Israel’s
government, Livingstone
said that criticism of
any government that was
‘based on ethnic cleansing
was absolutely valid.’
”
Neo-Nazi skinheads have been taking
over government-funded youth centers in
Holland because officials no longer think
they are a threat, according to a Jewish
community leader.
In Germany, Belgium, and France, neo-Nazi
rallies and skinhead concerts are drawing
increasing numbers of youth.
EPA/Lindsey Parnaby/Landov
Photo by Graeme Robertson/Getty Images
London Mayor, Ken Livingstone shown embracing
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the worldʼs most
influential Moslem clerics who has advocated suicide
bombing as a holy act.
At a London press conference following the
July 7th attacks, he drew a connection between the
London blasts and the Middle East. Livingstone
said, “Israel has done horrendous things which
border on crimes against humanity in the
way they have indiscriminately slaughtered
men, women, and children in the West Bank
for decades.”
Livingstone told United Press International
that there was often no other way to fight
oppression, than using “the assassin’s bullet
or the assassin’s bomb.” When pressed on his
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4
Livingstone recently angered many people
when he compared Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi,
a Qatar-based cleric who has advocated suicide
bombing as a holy act, to the late Pope John XXlll,
the pontiff responsible for Nostra Aetate, which
denied the concept of collective Jewish guilt for
the Crucifiction.
Against this backdrop, it should come as little
surprise that prominent British Muslims called
for an end the UK’s annual Holocaust Memorial
Day. Following the terrorist attacks in London,
Prime Minister Tony Blair appointed prominent
Muslims to recommend how best to integrate
Muslims into British society. The recommendation
presented by his top advisor on Muslim Affairs,
Sir Iqbal Sacranie was, “Cancel the country’s
official Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27,
making instead a ‘Genocide Memorial Day.’” British
Muslims boycotted the UK’s first official observance
of Holocaust Memorial Day this past January.
european antisemitism
This move was condemned by Rabbis Hier and
Cooper who charged, “Instead of learning from the
lessons of the past, which serves as an antidote to
hate, Sir Iqbal Sacranie and his associates want to
make the Holocaust an irrelevant footnote rather
than a central historic example of man’s inhumanity
to man. The people of the UK were correct in
setting aside a day for Holocaust remembrance
as a way of inspiring future generations. Denying
uncomfortable historic truth never fosters unity
but only spawns divisiveness and cynicism. As
for the assertion that Holocaust Memorial Day
excludes Muslims, history teaches us that among
the Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews during the
Holocaust, many were of the Muslim faith who
were recognized by the State of Israel for their
courageous deeds. And as well, there were Muslim
volunteers who fought for Hitler’s Army. This
disgraceful and shameful belittling of the victims
of the Nazi Holocaust ultimately does not serve
their community, does not serve their country and
does not serve history.” Center officials called on
Sir Iqbal to resign or be fired. ■
Auschwitz Graphic
Imagery of Genocide Used
to Promote Dutch Concert
L
aunched on Holocaust Commemoration
Day, an online film clip, “Housewitz”
features the Auschwitz mass murder
process as a promotion for a music concert with
“DJ Nazis”, “skinny jews”, “Tanzen Macht Frei”,
all against the backdrop of Holocaust atrocities.
“Housewitz” is featured on a website with
60,000 daily visitors. It provoked outrage in the
Dutch media and a protest from the Wiesenthal
Center’s European Office which urged the
Chairman of the OSCE to immediately take
action to stop “Housewitz” from spreading
to other OSCE countries after reaching
Belgium (with concerts entitled “Puree Soirée
Housewitz”). ■
Spain and Turkey:
Memory of the
Holocaust Under Attack
I
n Spain, Foreign Minister, Miguel Moratinos
(pictured center) was urged by SWC Director
for International Liaison, Dr. Shimon
Samuels, (pictured right with Rabbi Cooper left),
Editions of “Mein Kampf”, “The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion”, and “Turkish Al Qaeda Monthly”, bestsellers for sale
in Istanbul. Turkeyʼs Foreign Minister was called on by the
Wiesenthal Center to condemn the sales of these books,
including Mein Kampf, sold at Istanbulʼs international airport.
to condemn a Spanish and English Protestant
Holocaust denial and violently anti-Catholic
website. The site is run by Juan Antonio Monroy,
a violent anti-Catholic, antisemite and Holocaust
denier. In his letter, Dr. Samuels, protested that
Monroy “abuses Spanish freedom of expression
by his incitement to Jew-hatred.” His article
Until When the Holocaust?, and his promotion
of The Myth of the Six Millions by J. Bochaca
are in violation of Spanish law and European
Union provisions regarding Holocaust
revisionism and genocide apologetics,” adding
“above all, Monroy’s website is an offense to
Spain in its assault on your country’s declared
policy to contain antisemitism.”
Also in Spain, the Center called on Minister of
Culture and former Mayor of Cordoba, Carmen
Calvo, to cancel the permit given to notorious
French Holocaust denier, Roger Garaudy, to open
a museum in the city’s landmark Moorish Tower.
Garaudy, is a hero to neo-Nazis across Europe
for his writings that dispute the facts of the
Holocaust, trivializing the number of its Jewish
victims, and claiming that Jews exploit the
Holocaust for money and political benefit.
Dr. Samuels noted, “as a convert to Islam,
Garaudy is idolized in the Middle East by
Jihadist rejectionists of the peace process for his
book, The Founding Myths of Israeli Politics. In
1998, he was sentenced in Paris for the book’s
Holocaust denial content and for incitement to
racial hatred.”
Meanwhile, Center officials met with Turkish
diplomats and officials on both sides of the
Atlantic to express alarm over Holocaust denial
and incitement to antisemitism in a society
known historically for its religious tolerance and
safe haven for Jews.
Citing the June 5th edition of the Milli Gazette,
an article entitled “The Jews, the Germans and the
Tale of the Holocaust”, columnist Fatih Sertyuz
described the Holocaust as “an exaggeration of
what the Nazis have done to the Jews... a means of
manipulating people materially and politically.”
He continued, “Since they were the chosen ones,
their suffering had to be the greatest, it had to
be incomparable…they believed in the myths
written in the Torah, the Kabbalah and the
Zohar...they believed they were the superior race...
parallel to the Nazi Aryan race...they cooperated
with the Nazis...Lufthansa, the plane fleet of the
Nazis, was formed by the help of the rich Jews...
the Jews were the primary and only cause of the
First World War and responsible for the death of
50 million people in the Second World War...it is
also a lie that thousands of civilians were brutally
exterminated in the concentration camps such as
Auschwitz Birkenau... there were no gas chambers
used for such purposes…all these claims are lies,
fraud, libel and unreal.…” ■
Former IDF Major General
Barred from Britain for
Alleged “War Crimes”
W
hile extremist Sheikh Yusuf alQaradawi was welcomed into the UK,
former Israeli Defense Force Major
General, Doron Almog, could not deplane in
London after learning that he would be arrested
for alleged “war crimes” if he stepped onto
British soil. Almog, the father of an autistic
child, had traveled to London to speak about
a project in the Negev to help Israeli Jews and
Arabs who have severe mental and physical
disabilities. In 2002, Almog served as IDF’s
head of Southern Command when Israeli jets
struck and killed wanted Hamas commander
Salah Shehadeh and 14 others.
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european antisemitism
The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human
Rights filed the complaint against Almog through
an Israeli, anti-Zionist lawyer living in the UK.
The legislation gives Britain the power to charge
foreigners with war crimes, even if neither Britain
nor its citizens were involved. ■
Following in Pope John
Paul II’s Footsteps, Benedict
XVI Visits Synagogue;
Denounces Antisemitism
Senior UN Official:
Israeli Soldiers Are Like
“Concentration Camp Guards”
ope Benedict XVI’s message, calling for
increased vigilance to combat the rising
tide of antisemitism, comes at a critical
time for Europe and its Jews. His remarks were
delivered at a Cologne Synagogue which had
been destroyed by the Nazis. This was only
A
top United Nations official, UN Rapporteur
Jean Ziegler, recently characterized Israeli
soldiers as “concentration camp guards”
and the Gaza Strip as “an immense concentration
camp.” Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Center’s
Director for International Liaison, welcomed the
condemnation of Ziegler by both UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan and UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Louise Arbour. However, the
Center’s official demand that Zeigler be removed
from his post, went unanswered. ■
Pan-European Hate Fest
Stopped in Greece After
Wiesenthal Center Protest
G
reek officials stopped a planned neo-Nazi
“First Pan-European Hate Fest” in Greece after
protests by Dr. Shimon Samuels. Organized
by the Greek Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn) Party,
co-organizers included the German NPD, the
Italian Forza Nuova, and Spain’s Falange.
The festival was billed as the “First PanEuropean Youth Camp” and three-day “HateFestival” featuring “Hatewave Festival Concert”
coordinated by White Power 2005 and included
ideological recruitment seminars.
P
Germany: 5,000 Potential
Suicide Bombers; European
Governments Counter
Growing Islamist Threats
A
the second time a Pope
had visited a synagogue,
the late Pope John Paul
II, (inset), visited Rome’s
main Synagogue in 1986. In
reaction to Pope John Paul II’s passing, Rabbi Hier
said, “No Pope did more for the Jews than John
Paul II.” Rabbi Hier had two private audiences
with the Pope in the Vatican. ■
AFP Photo
Extreme right-wing group Chryssi Avgi members hold
Greek flags and their factionʼs emblem during a demonstration outside their headquarters in Athens to protest
a ban on a planned gathering of European neo-Nazis.
In the Resistance and Counterattack newsletter,
event organizers called World War II, “a civil conflict
in which the European nations slaughtered one another,
with greater losses for both sides than the ‘millions’
of ever-persecuted crooked noses from Judea.” ■
Angela Merkel, the new Chancellor of Germany seen
here (L) with Dr. Shimon Samuels (R) at recent meeting.
Also pictured is UNESCO official, Graciela Samuels.
A protester holds up an anti-Nazi sign showing a
crossed-out swastika as some 100 supporters of the
German rightwing National Democratic Party (NPD),
unseen, march through the city of Oldenburg,
Germany, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005.
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6
s Angela Merkel prepares to become
Germany’s new Chancellor, a senior
security official and current Interior
Minister of Bavaria, Guenther Beckstein, told
a newspaper that Germany is home to between
3,000–5,000 potential Islamic suicide attackers.
Beckstein expressed concern that attacks could
be prepared by small cells of “fanatics” without
detection.
The British Home Office’s crackdown on
extremists now targets websites that promote
terrorism and violence in the UK and views
violations as grounds for deportation of nonUK citizens. The Center commended the moves
that could put an “immediate damper” on the
targeted recruitment of young Muslims in the
UK by Islamist extremists.
During his second tenure as French Interior
Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy announced antiterrorist initiatives including the expulsion
of preachers of violence and hate and those
“promoting radical Islamic polemic.” France is
acting quickly against these extremists Sarkozy
has declared, “We have to act against radical
Islamist preachers capable of influencing the
youngest and most weak-minded.” ■
the world remembers
Simon Wiesenthal:
The Conscience of the Holocaust
“Thank you, Mr. Wiesenthal for lending your voice to those
who were silenced much too soon – among them, hundreds of my
family members. Your compassion, leadership and devotion to
your family and fellow survivors will long be remembered in
our hearts. We will continue and NEVER FORGET.”
I
- Charlotte Cohen, Survivor of Bergen-Belsen
t is almost impossible to appreciate the full to ensure that Nazi murderers still at liberty did not
measure of Simon Wiesenthal’s contribution to sleep well at night. Miraculously surviving 12 Nazi
the Jewish people and to the world. It’s not just camps, Wiesenthal emerged in 1945, an emaciated
Simon’s longevity. When he passed away at 96, he had survivor without even a trace of 89 family members
outlived most of the perpetrators of the
engulfed in the Holocaust.
Nazi Holocaust he doggedly hunted.
If anyone ever had the right “to play
Wiesenthal was virtually alone in
the victim” and vent rage at the world,
his quest for justice for the six million
it was Wiesenthal. Yet the renowned
Jewish innocents murdered in the Final
Nazi hunter never allowed the pain of
Solution. After the Nuremberg War
his own losses to incubate hate.
Crimes Tribunals, the victorious alliance
Instead, he fought an uncaring
morphed into the bitter confrontation
world to ensure that the Nazis didn’t
of the Cold War. As far as the Soviets,
get away with History’s greatest crime.
Americans, and British were concerned,
Justice for Hitler’s Jewish and nondossiers of ex-Nazis were to be scoured,
Jewish victims-not vengeance-was his
not for evidence of crimes against
quest, and the power of memory was his
humanity, but for their potential in
sole weapon to compel governments
1936 - Simon & Cyla Wiesenthal
abetting their respective intelligence,
not to forget, or repeat, past crimes.
military, or strategic goals.
Primarily responsible for the prosecution and
What shines through the flood of tributes to Simon conviction of over 1100 Nazi war criminals, he pursued
Wiesenthal is the modesty and magnanimity of the the guilty as individual culprits, never blaming entire
man who said that his greatest accomplishment was nations or peoples for their crimes. ■
Simon Wiesenthal:
A Man of the
Generations
Eulogy delivered at the
Funeral in Herzeliya, Israel
by Rabbi Marvin Hier
A
s soon as the news spread that Simon
Wiesenthal had passed away, it was the lead
story in every major newspaper and television
station around the world. The New York Times had it
on its front page and the Los Angeles Times devoted
four full pages in the front section of its newspaper to
tell his remarkable story.
But who was Simon Wiesenthal, the man I had the
privilege of working closely with since July 1977, when I
began the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles?
When a good person passes away, a eulogist will
undoubtedly try to console the bereaved from within
the rubric of ‘having loved his neighbor,’ but few times
in history are we given the opportunity to remember
a man who spoke for ‘the generations’ who labored
and toiled not only for those he knew, but for those
he would never know and those not yet born. Whose
calling was not merely Rabbi Akiva’s reverence for
one’s neighbors, but Ben Azzai’s great challenge of
having an impact on “the generations of man.”
Simon Wiesenthal was born in Buczacz, Poland
in 1908. He had planned an entirely different life
when he married his high school sweetheart, Cyla.
He studied at the Prague Technical University and
looked forward to a career as an architect.
Instead, the Nazis invaded Europe and unleashed
their plan to exterminate Europe’s Jews, forcing
him and his wife into the concentration camps, and
a decidedly different role then he had planned.
Instead of sketching homes, he began sketching the
faces of the murderers who he watched practice
their inhumanity daily, and he began compiling lists
1923 - Simon Wiesenthal pictured with a group of Boy
Scouts of which he was the leader in Buczacz, Poland.
Only one of these boys survived the Holocaust.
“
When my life is over
and I meet up with the
victims of the Holocaust,
I shall have the
privilege of saying
to them, I have never
forgotten you.
”
- Simon Wiesenthal
1949 - Simon Wiesenthal speaking at a ceremony in Linz,
Austria, before the transfer of urns containing the ashes
of Holocaust victims were sent to Israel for burial.
of names of those who had come, not to beautify
communities but to destroy them.
When the war ended on May 8, 1945 and the whole
world went home to forget, he alone remained behind
to remember. He once told me why. Because soon after
the end of the war, while accompanying a group of
rabbis who were seeking to retrieve lost libraries, he
7 : 800 900 9036 : www.wiesenthal.com : response magazine
the world remembers
memories of the night, the eighty-nine members of
both their families wiped out without a trace. The
unforgettable memory of chasing after the cattle
car that carted off his mother to the death camp. He
wanted so much to say goodbye to her, but she never
heard the desperate cries of her loving son.
“
1977 Los Angeles - Simon Wiesenthal placing the
mezuzah on the door of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
came upon a book. Written on the inside of the Siddur
was the following: “Whoever finds this book, give it to
my brother. The murderers are among us. Do not forget
us and do not forget our murderers.” For many years,
Simon Wiesenthal kept this book on his night table,
unable to shake its admonition.
He could not forget. He became the permanent
representative of the victims of the Shoah. No one
asked him to assume this role – no world body or leader
announced his appointment. He just assumed the job. It
was a job no one else wanted.
1978 - Simon Wiesenthal campaigning against a statute of
limitations on Nazi war criminals, “There will be no statute
of limitations on murder. The German government has a
moral obligation to bring these mass murderers to justice
and moral duties cannot be limited by time.”
The task was overwhelming. The cause had few
friends. The Allies were already focused on the Cold
War; the survivors began rebuilding their shattered
lives. Only Simon Wiesenthal would not go home, taking
on the role of both prosecutor and detective on behalf
of the victims of the Shoah.
His wife would often remark that in addition to her,
her husband was married to millions of dead people.
She was right. He just could not let go of those terrible
Laura and I are
saddened by the death
of Simon Wiesenthal,
a tireless and
passionate advocate
who devoted his life to
tracking down Nazi killers
and promoting freedom…
history will always
remember him.
1980 - Simon Wiesenthal and Rabbi Marvin Hier visiting
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Beginʼs home
in Jerusalem.
urgency with which he lived his life, as if he could still
hear the footsteps of the millions walking beside him,
the parents who never had the opportunities to say
their farewells, the children who would never reach
adulthood, and the generations snuffed out by the
flames of the crematoria.
”
- President George W. Bush
When Simon Wiesenthal began his work,
tremendous amounts of information filtered in, most
of which he followed up himself and when he couldn’t,
he asked others for help. In the 1950s, he received
information that Adolf Eichmann was working in
Buenos Aires and all he needed was $500 to hire
someone to check it out. He wrote to many prominent
individuals and many Jewish organizations, but no
one came up with the $500. On numerous occasions,
he had to close his office because of a lack of funds.
Fortunately, his prominent role in the Eichmann case
in the early 1960’s brought him a few friends, which
finally helped him re-open his office.
It is important to remember that this architect
from Buczacz, had no background in intelligence or
investigation, but with sheer determination alone,
brought more than 1,100 Nazi war criminals to justice.
Not just ordinary criminals, but mass murderers like
Franz Stangl, the commandant of Treblinka death
camp, Gustav Wagner, the commandant of Sobibor
death camp, and Karl Silberbauer, the Nazi who had
arrested Anne Frank .
Simon had little patience for formalities. When
one looked into his eyes, you could see the sense of
Simon Wiesenthal:
Conscience of
the Holocaust
response magazine : www.wiesenthal.com : 800 900 9036 : 8
1995 - As part of the United Nations 50th Anniversary
observance, Wiesenthal was asked by the Austrian Foreign
Minister to address the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Unfortunately there is no denying that Hitler and Stalin
are alive today, of course, not necessarily in the same form.
They are out there waiting for us to forget, because that is
what makes possible their resurrection...The fight against
evil is one to which everyone should devote his life.”
Yes, today if there is a place in our world for the
memory of the Holocaust, Simon Wiesenthal was at the
forefront of those who helped plant the seeds of that
memory.
He has always said that the Holocaust was about
evil and that evil has been with us since the dawn of
civilization. Yet, we always seem to think we know
when evil will cease. After the 19th Century pogroms,
we thought that the new age of enlightenment would
prevent it from happening again. But then in the 20th
Century came Hitler who turned the country of Bach
and Beethoven into the country of Bergen Belsen and
Dachau. Following the Holocaust, many said such a thing
could never happen again, but then came Cambodia,
Rwanda, Kosovo, the horrors of the Sudan, and since
9/11 the terrible threat of international terrorism hangs
over all of us.
A photo exhibition celebrating the life of Simon Wiesenthal will be on display at the
Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles until January 30, 2006. Please come and inscribe
a message in the visitor’s book which will be shared with Mr. Wiesenthal’s family.
If you are interested in bringing this exhibit to your community, contact
MOT Director, Liebe Geft 800.900.9036.
the world remembers
1998 - Rabbi Marvin Hier with Simon Wiesenthal in his office in Vienna on the occassion of his 90th birthday.
No one did more than he in bringing the perpetrators
of history’s greatest crime to justice. Even those who
had escaped, lived their lives in fear because of him.
Perhaps one day the knock would come to their door.
This too Simon felt was a small measure of justice.
No person devoted himself so absolutely, giving up all
worldly, and material pursuits and placing his family
in harm’s way for the singular purpose of forcing the
world to remember the crimes committed against the
Jewish people by a so-called civilized society. For the
victims of the Holocaust who perished, he returned
to them the respect they were never accorded in life.
1993 - Visiting with the Dalai Lama
Every survivor walked a little taller and felt more secure
because Simon Wiesenthal was out there defending
their honor and the honor of all those who perished.
I was with him at all his meetings with four Presidents
of the United States and I saw the great deference and
respect in which he was held. When President Carter
presented him with the Congressional Gold Medal, he
said, “Some think we are here today to honor him, but
his presence here honors us and this home, and the
principles for which it stands.”
President Clinton presented him with the Medal
of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian recognition,
rarely given to citizens of foreign countries, an honor
I had the privilege of accepting on his behalf. President
Clinton said, “…Only if we heed this brave voice can
we build a bulwark of humanity against the hatred and
indifference that is still so prevalent in this world.”
When he met President Reagan in the Oval Office
and said, “Mr. President, I am honored to meet you,”
President Reagan replied, “Sir, the honor is mine,
not yours.”
He was a favorite of celebrities as well. At a
Wiesenthal Center dinner in Los Angeles in 1978, Frank
Sinatra said: “Simon, I would be honored just to be the
pillow upon which you lay down to rest your head.”
Yes, Simon, it is true that when you ran after the
cattle car trying to say goodbye to your beloved mother,
she could not hear you. But it is also true that because
of your life’s work, the whole world has heard you.
Each year Forbes Magazine lists the world’s richest
men. Whenever I see that list, I am reminded of the
story that Simon was fond of telling. It was at the end
“
…The work of
Mr. Wiesenthal and
the organization that
bears his name has had a
significant influence
on Canada and has
contributed to…our own
War Crimes Program …the
Simon Wiesenthal Center,
including its Toronto
office, the Friends of
Simon Wiesenthal Center
for Holocaust Studies,
will ensure that his voice
continues to be heard.
”
- Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin
For photos and biography:
www.wiesenthal.com/simonwiesenthal
To send condolences to
Simon Wiesenthal’s family:
condolences @ wiesenthal.net
2004 - Simon Wiesenthal received the award Knight
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in
a private ceremony in his Vienna home from British
Ambassador to Austria, John Macgregor.
of the war in 1946 in Italy. He was spending Friday night
with a group of friends, fellow survivors who could not
understand why he decided to become a Nazi-hunter.
They argued ‘enough with the past, you should focus
on the future.’ As Simon looked at the Sabbath candles
whose flames were aglow, he said, “My dear friends, do
you know what I see in the glow of the candles? I see the
souls of our six million brothers and sisters. And one day
when our lives are over, they will come to all of us and
9 : 800 900 9036 : www.wiesenthal.com : response magazine
the
the world
worldremembers
remembers
they will ask us, what have you done? You, my dear
friend, will tell them that you went into construction
to build homes. And you will say you went into the
jewelry business.And you
became a manufacturer
of clothes. But I will
have the privilege of
saying to them, “I never
forgot you.”
Now Simon, as you go
to your eternal repose, I
am sure there is a great
stirring in heaven as
the soul of the millions
murdered during the
Nazi Holocaust get ready
to welcome Shimon ben
Asher, the man who
Simon Wiesenthalʼs daughter stood up for their honor
Paulina Kreisberg with her
and never let the world
granddaughter at the funeral
forget them. ■
in Israel.
Rabbi Marvin Hier delivering the eulogy at Simon
Wiesenthalʼs funeral.
“
“
I have received many honors in my lifetime. When
I die, these honors will die with me. But the
Simon Wiesenthal Center will live on as my legacy.
”
- Simon Wiesenthal
CONTINUE
SIMON WIESENTHAL’S LEGACY
The end of Simon Wiesenthal’s long, heroic life marks a time for us all to
honor his singular vision and his unwavering pursuit of justice for the victims
of the Nazi genocide. Simon Wiesenthal worked tirelessly to keep alive their
memory, and hold accountable those who caused their deaths.
As a survivor of the concentration camps, I, like Simon Wiesenthal, have
been moved to use my life to help fight against the evil that destroyed the lives
of so many, among them my mother, my sister and three of my brothers.
That is why, nearly three decades ago, I joined the Board of the Simon
Wiesenthal Center. In those years, I have traveled with Center leadership to
countries in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere across the globe, including
India, Taiwan and Japan. Our goal? To ensure that the entire world knew what
happened and would try to prevent it from ever being repeated.
Therefore, I am deeply honored to join my fellow Center Board members
in announcing the establishment of the Simon Wiesenthal Legacy Fund, as a
tribute to the memory of this great hero.
I’m also pleased to personally be able to ask you, as a dedicated Center
Member, to help us carry on Simon’s work by making a generous contribution to
the Simon Wiesenthal Legacy Fund today.
I’m sure you agree that upholding Simon’s legacy is the single most
memorable and effective thing we can do to guarantee that Simon’s profound
heritage lives on.
We must make sure the Center - Simon’s lasting gift to the world - has the
financial resources on hand to act quickly and decisively whenever and wherever
flare-ups of antisemitism and hate arise.
When asked why he continued to work so tirelessly on behalf of the victims
of the Holocaust, Simon once said, “When we come to the other world and meet
the millions of Jews who died in the camps, I will say, ‘I did not forget you’.”
This is your chance to join us in saying, “I did not forget you” to the victims
of the Holocaust, and to Simon himself. Indeed, your gift to the Simon Wiesenthal
Legacy Fund will help ensure that our Jewish brothers and sisters - in Europe,
and across the globe - are never forgotten.
…memories of a horrific
past and hopes for a better
future – a future he himself
was striving hard to bring
about through the work of the
Sol Teichman
renowned human rights
Holocaust Survivor and
Simon Wiesenthal Center Board Member
organization that bears
his name…we are painfully
aware…that anti-Semitism still poisons …
As survivors such as Simon die, it falls to us to
carry forward the work of remembrance….
- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
”
response magazine : www.wiesenthal.com : 800 900 9036 : 10
To continue Simon
Wiesenthal’s legacy go to:
www.wiesenthal.com/legacy
middle east and terrorism
Church Groups Pursue
Anti-Israel Campaign
Tzippy Cohen speaking at the SWC news conference in
Portland, Oregon, urging “Disciples of Christ” delegates
to vote down the anti-Israel “Tear Down This Wall” Resolution. Pictured are Rabbi Cooper, left and Mark Tooley,
a Methodist leader with “The Institute For Democracy
and Religion” in Washington DC who noted that a
disproportionate percentage of resolutions by mainline
Protestant groups unfairly targeted Israel for criticism.
T
he four year campaign launched by a phalanx
of non-governmental organizations at the
UN’s World Conference Against Racism in
2001, seeking to delegitimize Israel and demonize
her Zionist supporters has finally found some
traction in the U.S and threatens traditionally
cordial ties with the Jewish community.
Important mainline Protestant groups have
approved, or, are actively considering a series of onesided, anti-Israel resolutions focusing on divestment
from US companies doing business with the Jewish
State. Incredulously they are demanding that Israel
remove its anti-terrorism fence, the very move that
has thwarted untold suicide attacks and slashed the
number of deaths from suicide bombings by 90%.
sided measures hostile to Israel even as the rest
of the world was applauding Prime Minister
Sharon for his unilateral evacuation of the Jewish
presence in Gaza. These activists have helped to
promote the Sabeel Liberation Theology Center,
which masquerades as moderate, but preaches the
moral and theological unacceptability of Israel
as a state, by preaching a return to ‘Replacement
Theology’ which abrogates any promises made
in the Bible to the Jewish people.
Wiesenthal Center delegations led by Rabbi
Abraham Cooper and Rabbi Yitzhak Adlerstein,
the Center’s Director of Interfaith Affairs, went
to Atlanta, Georgia and Portland, Oregon to urge
Church delegates to vote down the ‘functionally
antisemitic’ resolutions. “We found a deep chasm
between delegates from America’s heartland who
were often unaware of the anti-Israel resolutions
being pushed through by politically motivated
activists,” said Rabbi Cooper. “Not even deadly
suicide attacks in Iraq and Israel, not even the
July 7th bombings in London, could derail these
punitive actions.” “We emphasized that, left
unchallenged, these resolutions coupled with
mainstream acceptance of Sabeel’s rejection of
the Jewish people’s rights as a people, would
devastate Christian-Jewish relations,” added
Rabbi Adlerstein. “The Wiesenthal Center is
committed to working with fair-minded Church
leaders of all denominations against these
anti-peace actions and will strive to bring the
narrative of Israeli suffering from Palestinian
terrorist campaigns,” noted Rabbi Adlerstein.
The most outrageous move of all was the
muzzling of Tzippy Cohen, an AustralianAmerican survivor of the Café Hillel suicide
“
Israelis are already traumatized and feel
that the world is against them. This proposal,
if it is agreed, would be another knife in the back.
Church. The highly respected theologian stated
that a divestment plan, similar to plans proposed
by other mainline US Protestant Churches as the
Presbyterian and United Church of Christ, would
be a “grave mistake” that would seriously harm
the peace-building efforts in the Middle East.
“Israelis are already traumatized and feel that
the world is against them. This proposal, if it is
agreed, would be another knife in the back.” All
this as Christians in the Holy Land are subject to
increasing pressure from Moslem extremists in
their midst. No word of protest on that front from
the Geneva-based World Council of Churches
the main advocate of anti-Israel initiatives in the
Protestant world. Even after Dr. Shimon Samuels
presented thousands of petitions, from the Center’s
online campaign, to World Council of Churches
Secretary General, Samuel Kobia, in Geneva that
demanded the rescinding of its anti-Israel bias. In
the meeting, Samuels also presented the long and
ugly history of boycotts against Jews, especially in
Hitler’s “Kaufen nicht bei Juden” campaign. ■
Iran: World’s Leading
Terrorist State
R
eports pointing to Iran’s renewed efforts
to buildup its nuclear weapons arsenal over
the next few years, are seen as potential
threats to the rest of the world as they continue
to be the single greatest obstacle to peace in the
region.
The recent election of Tehran’s former mayor
to president is another deep source for concern as
his links to terrorism run long and deep. In the
meantime, the Iranian government continues to
openly promote suicide terrorism and the training
of terrorists and bomb makers. ■
”
- Lord Carey of Clifton, the former Archbishop of Canterbury
While such efforts have proven all too successful
in Europe, in the US, perhaps due to 9/11 and the
“War Against Terrorism,” the campaign had not
generated significant support beyond university
campus groups - until now. Activists led by father
and son Victor and Peter Makari, have succeeded
in presenting Palestinian concerns, to the exclusion
of any Israeli narrative of suffering, before the
leadership of the Presbyterians, the United Church
of Christ and the Disciples of Christ Churches.
These three denominations have adopted one-
bombing in Jerusalem. After a face-to-face
encounter with the leaders of the Disciples of
Christ, Ms. Cohen was barred from speaking on
the floor of the convention on behalf of victims
of terror, and the so-called anti-‘Apartheid’
Wall resolution prevailed.
In a related development, Wiesenthal Center
officials applauded Lord Carey of Clifton, the
former Archbishop of Canterbury when he
forcefully condemned the anti-Israel campaign
by the Consultative Council of the Anglican
An advertisement for an application form recruiting
suicide bombers which appears regularly in Iranʼs
weekly newspaper, “Parto Sokhan”.
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middle east and terrorism
King Abdullah’s Challenge: The Amman Message
UN Security Council
Adopts Anti-Terror Steps;
Israel Applies for Membership
N
early four years after 9/11, The United
Nations Security Council unanimously
adopted resolutions prohibiting incitement
to commit acts of terrorism and to prevent such
conduct. At the gathering of world leaders, Prime
Minister Tony Blair insisted that terrorism would
not be defeated until the Security Council’s
determination was as complete as the terrorists’,
until its defense of freedom was as absolute as their
fanaticism and until its passion for democracy
was as great as their passion for tyranny.
King Abdullah with Simon Wiesenthal Center delegation, speaking to L-R: Rabbi Marvin Hier, the Centerʼs Founder
and Dean; Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean and Rabbi Meyer May, Executive Director.
K
ing Abdullah II of Jordan received the
Wiesenthal Center’s 2005 Tolerance
Award in Amman, for “being a force for
moderation and for his leadership in promoting
peace and tolerance,” said Rabbi Marvin
Hier. “His consistent repudiation of terrorism,
antisemitism and extremism are critical in
interfaith relations and in moving the Middle
East peace process forward,” he added.
The King informed the Wiesenthal Center
delegation of The Amman Message – his
initiative to rally religious moderates, saying,
“The Middle East lost two great men, King
Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin. With their vision, if
they would have lived, we would have had peace.
The late King wanted peace for his children, my
generation, so I tried to bring my own initiative,
The Amman Message, to have the silent majority
stand up against what is being done in the name
of Islam. Enough is enough.”
Later the King convened a conference of
170 Islamic religious leaders from 40 countries
where he declared that “acts of violence and
terrorism carried by certain extremist groups
in the name of Islam are utterly contradictory
to the principles and ideology of Islam. Such
acts give non-Muslims excuses to attack Islam
and interfere in the affairs of Muslim peoples.”
Tragically, the clerics, led by Sheik Qaradawi,
who sanctions female suicide bombers against
Israel and attacks against US and other civilians
and Iraq, rejected the King’s call to denounce all
acts of terrorism. “We live in strange times, when
Kings and politicians embrace universal values
while some clergy recruit people to commit acts
of terrorism in the name of God,” lamented Dr.
Judea Pearl, father of Daniel Pearl, who was
kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists
in Pakistan. ■
26,159 Attacks in Israel
Over the Last Five Years
A
ccording to the Jerusalem Post, a newly
released report by the Shin Bet (Israel’s
Security Agency) said that terror groups
have increased their efforts to launch attacks
inside Israel, especially in Jerusalem in the past
year, despite the so-called ‘truce’ that terror
organizations pledged to uphold this past
January.
Since the beginning of the intifada five years
ago, a total of 1,061 Israelis have been killed and
murdered and 6,089 wounded in 26,159 attacks. In
the coming year, it is estimated that terror groups
will increase their efforts to transfer weapons
and information, including Kassam rockets, to
the West Bank, which is expected to become the
main arena for Palestinian terror with the Israel
Defense Forces pullout from Gaza.
The Wiesenthal Center continues to pursue
its worldwide campaign to have suicide bombings
declared a Crime Against Humanity. But even
as the terror spreads to London and revisits
Bali, the international community is only now
beginning to express solidarity against all forms
of terrorism (see following story). ■
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12
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan speaking at the
memorial for Simon Wiesenthal in New York.
Another first came when Israeli Ambassador
to the UN, Dan Gillerman, announced Israel’s
intention to seek a seat on the Security Council.
The move was seen as a natural extension of
Israel’s struggle to normalize its relationship
with the Arab and Moslem world and fight for
its full rights as a member of the international
organization, rights which Israel was arbitrarily
prevented from exercising for years. ■
UN Official Calls for Binational
State to Replace Israel
I
n his latest report, the UN’s special rapporteur
on Palestinian Rights, John Dugard, states that
“the construction of the wall, the expansion of
settlements and the de-Palestinization of Jerusalem
are incompatible with the two-state solution.”
Dugard added, “Interlocutors within both
Israel and the West Bank warned that with the
two-state solution, becoming increasingly difficult,
if not impossible, consideration should be given
to the establishment of a binational Palestinian
state. The demography of the region increasingly
points to such an outcome.” Israeli officials called
Dugard’s words “shocking” and Jewish leaders
said such a “solution” would mark the end of the
Jewish State. ■
terrorism + the americas
Al Qaeda: Global Jihad
Culminates with War
Against Israel
A
s Response goes to press, the SWC exposed
an al Qaeda website, hiddenworlds.info
that focuses exclusively on promoting
hatred against Jews. This is in keeping with an
alarming trend that has seen extremist Muslim
speeches and websites increasingly using pregenocidal language in attacking the Jewish
people, and not just Israel.
In a related development, a letter detailing a
long-term plan for “global jihad” purportedly from
Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman Zawahiri,
was intercepted by US intelligence. The contents
stated, first: expel American forces from Iraq.
Second: establish a caliphate over as much of Iraq
as possible. Third: extend the jihad to neighboring
countries, with specific reference to Egypt, Lebanon
and Syria. Finally: go to war against Israel. ■
11 YEARS LATER: Judge Impeached;
Interpol Cancels Arrest Warrants;
and Jewish Community Center
Bombing Case Still Unsolved
O
n the eve of the 11th anniversary of
the bombing of the Jewish Community
Center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, and
in wake of the Argentine government’s official
acknowledgement that it failed to solve the
bombing case, Argentine Senator, Cristina
Alarm Over Presence of
Al Qaeda-Affiliated Groups
in Argentina
Islamic Extremists Celebrate
Hurricane Katrina’s Horrors
W
hile Israel was one of the first countries to
send volunteers and aid to the United States
for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort,
Islamic extremists were celebrating the destruction
and death brought by the Hurricane.
An al Qaeda statement congratulated the “whole
Islamic nation for the prophesized and awaited
destruction of the infidel’s head, America is at hand,”
while a high-ranking Kuwaiti official wrote, “the
terrorist Katrina is one of the Soldiers of Allah….” ■
The Middle East situation, related human rights issues, and closer Canadian
scrutiny of agencies like UNRWA, were discussed with Canadian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Pierre Pettigrew. L-R: Canadian Director, Avi Benlolo; Rabbi
Cooper; Mr. Pettigrew; and Canadian National Affairs Director, Leo Adler.
A
a few months back, Iran succeeded in getting
Interpol to cancel international arrest warrants
for 12 Iranians sought by Argentina in the Jewish
Community Center bombing. Judge Rodolfo
Canicoba, who took over the case said there was
evidence implicating the 12 suspects in planning
and financing the attack.
Both Argentina and Israel blame the bombing
on Hezbollah terrorists supported by the Iranian
government. ■
Fernández de Kirchner, wife of Argentine
President Nestor Kirchner (shown here with
Rabbis Hier and Cooper) toured and spoke at the
Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.
A prominent member of the Argentine
Senate and a leading human rights activist,
Senator Kirchner was involved in the
government’s investigation into the 1994 AMIA
bombing, which killed 85, and the bombing of
the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires two years
earlier which killed 29. She led the call for the
impeachment of Judge Juan Galeano, whose
mishandling of the investigation led to the
acquittal of the bombing suspects. In August
2005, Judge Galeano was finally impeached
after being found guilty of ethical and legal
violations, particularly of paying a defendant
in the case $400,000.
Many blame former President Carlos
Menem and accuse him of accepting bribes,
including from the Iranian government, to
suppress the truth. According to police sources,
T
he presence of groups in Argentina connected
to the al Qaeda terrorist organization led
Sergio Widder, the Center’s Latin American
Representative to express concern to Argentine
Interior Minister, Anibal Fernancez. Citing the
AMIA and Israeli Embassy bombings as examples,
Widder urged an immediate investigation by
Argentine authorities and also, to join the Center’s
initiative to have suicide bombings declared ‘Crimes
Against Humanity’. ■
Photo-Wolfgang Leander
The second recent desecration of this Jewish cemetery in
Cochamamba, Bolivia taken by a member of the Jewish community.
Hezbollah Terrorist Television Knocked Off the Air in Latin America and Asia
fter a lengthy campaign last year by the
Wiesenthal Center to France’s Higher
Audiovisual Council broadcasts of AlManar Hezbollah terrorist television (to Europe
via the French Eutelsat) were banned because
of Al-Manar’s praise of suicide terrorism and
incitement to antisemitism. However, the
France Telecom affiliate, Globecast, continued
these broadcasts via Hispasat to Latin America,
and via Asiasat to the Far East. After further
protests by Dr. Shimon Samuels, the Center
was informed by Pierre-Antoine Badoz, France
Telecom’s Director for Public Affairs, that all AlManar broadcasts have been definitively ended
to all parts of the globe, including Europe, Latin
America, and Asia.“Blocking the glorification of
Jihad and hate from the airwaves undoubtedly
limits terrorist recruitment and saves the lives
of potential victims,” said Samuels. The Center
will continue to monitor any attempt to renew
these broadcasts. ■
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swc report
SAVE THE DATES
Los Angeles:
January 14, 2006
700 SUNDAYS
The Tony Award-winning production
starring Billy Crystal
A special benefit for the MOT
For more information, contact
Hope Zeitz, 310.772.2531
Los Angeles:
Bob Wright, Chairman and CEO of NBC Universal
and Vice Chairman and Executive Officer of General
Electric was the recipient of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center’s 2005 Humanitarian Award. Academy Award™
winner, actor Jamie Foxx performed, Tonight Show
host Jay Leno served as emcee, and NBC Nightly News
anchor Brian Williams delivered tribute remarks.
New York:
Florida:
January 11, 2006 (rescheduled)
New York Dinner honoring
Humanitarian Laureate Recipient
December 8, 2005
South Florida Premiere of Ever Again
February 16, 2006
South Palm Beach County Tribute Dinner
March 26, 2006
South Florida Tribute Dinner
Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
The News Corporation
The Waldorf Astoria Hotel
February 8, 2006
Annual Dorothy Gardner Adler
State of Antisemitism Lecture
at The 92nd Street Y
featuring New York Times columnist David Brooks
For more information, contact 212.370.0320
Thanking our Partners
The Wells Fargo Foundation is the largest supporter
of youth education programs at the Museum of
Tolerance. “The vision and values of Wells Fargo align
perfectly with those of the SWC/MOT - promoting
the teaching of tolerance, equality and diversity is the
cornerstone of our corporate philosophy. Wells Fargo
salutes the incomparable work of the SWC/MOT and
is proud to be your partner,” said Jonathan Weedman,
Wells Fargo Foundation Vice President.
On the anniversary of the September
11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa delivered
the keynote address and led a candlelight
vigil at the Museum of Tolerance to remember the
nearly 3,000 victims who died. ■
(L to R): SWC Board of Trustees Chairman, Larry Mizel;
Rabbi Marvin Hier, Jay Leno; Suzanne Wright; Bob
Wright; and Brian Williams.
Moriah Films’ documentary short,
Beautiful Music, narrated by
Brooke Shields and directed by
Rick Trank won the Hollywood
Disco ver y Award, B est
Documentary at the Hollywood
Film Festival. The film tells the
story of the relationship between
teacher Devorah Schramm,
an Orthodox Jewish, American-born pianist and
composer, and student Rasha Hamad, a blind and
severely autistic Palestinian girl. ■
Museum of Tolerance:
As part of the Climate
of Trust program, a
group of Russian law
enforcement officials
came to the MOT
for training sessions
on how to combat
the growing number
of hate crimes and ethnic conflicts in Russia. The
Museum’s Tools for Tolerance® Project Coordinator,
Mark Katrikh, traveled to Ryzan, Russia for follow up
meetings and a conference on extremism in Russia sixty
years after World War II. Pictured with the delegation
are MOT Director Liebe Geft and Rabbi Marvin Hier.
New York:
Public Days Program at NYTC
The New York Tolerance Center has launched its
Public Days Program which welcomes visits from the
general public every Monday from 9:00 am–5:00 pm
on a reservation basis. The facility is a state-of-theart interactive training and educational facility that
focuses on exploring the dynamics of racism and
prejudice in America, international human rights and
the history of the Holocaust. For more information,
contact Sarah Nadeau 212.697.1180. ■
Toronto:
Rudolph Guiliani, former NYC Mayor addressed
over 1,700 attendees at the Friends of Simon
Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies’ The Spirit
of Hope Benefit at the North York Center for the
Arts in Toronto. ■
L-R: Rabbi May; Gordon Diamond, Member, SWC Board
of Trustees; Leo Adler, Director of National Affairs,
Friends of SWC; Former New York City Mayor, Rudolph
Guiliani; Rabbi Hier; Rabbi Cooper; Avi Benlolo,
Canadian Director, Friends of SWC.
response magazine : www.wiesenthal.com : 800 900 9036 : 14
For more information, contact 561.367.0722
Toronto:
November 28, 2005
Canadian Premiere of Ever Again
Cineplex Varsity Theatre
For more information, contact Avi Benlolo 416.864.9735
Simon Wiesenthal Memorials
Memorials honoring the life of Simon
Wiesenthal were held in Los Angeles,
New York, Miami, Boca Raton, Toronto,
Paris, and Vienna. Leading the delegation
to the funeral in Herzeliya, Israel were
Rabbis Marvin Hier, Abraham Cooper, and Meyer
May. Other attendees included, Center Board Member
Martin Rosen, Mr. Wiesenthal’s closest confidante
for four decades; Martin Mendelsohn, who helped
create the Department of
Justice’s Office of Special
Investigation; Dr. Shimon
Samuels; and Wiesenthal
Center Israel Director,
Dr. Efraim Zuroff. ■
Alexander Lewy,(L) Congressional Aide to Congressman
Kendrick B. Meek, presenting the Congressional Record
Statement, honoring Simon Wiesenthalʼs legacy, to Robert
Novak, SWC National Director of Development Director
of the Southern Region.
Israel:
The Center’s fifth Annual Status Report on the
Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War
Criminals pointed to the continuing success of the
United States in prosecuting Holocaust perpetrators.
The report singles out the Ukraine as the country which
has done the least and highlights the failure of Croatia
and Austria to prosecute Milivoj Asner, the notorious
police chief of Pozega, Croatia who played an important
role in the persecution and murder of hundreds
of innocent civilians.
Following his exposure
by the Wiesenthal
Center’s “Operation: Last
Chance” in June 2004,
Asner escaped to
Klagenfurt Austria, where
he currently resides.
While in Croatia,
Israel Director Dr.
Efraim Zuroff, (L)
with Croatian President
Stjepan Mesic) called
for immediate steps
to stop the ongoing
vandalization and desecration of the Požega Jewish
cemetery in Croatia, which has no gate, fence or
protection of any sort. ■
membership
inaugural leadership mission
Join us for the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s
Inaugural Leadership Mission to Israel
MARCH 5-12, 2006
ed by Rabbi Marvin Hier, Wiesenthal
Center Founder and Dean, the Wiesenthal
Center’s Inaugural Leadership Mission
will be an exciting, unique, enlightening journey
combining the dynamic historical, cultural and
spiritual components
of the Land of Israel.
These are critical
times in the history
of the Jewish people.
Time to recommit
ourselves to the two principal signposts of
modern Jewish history that have motivated
the Center since its inception in 1977: keeping
the memory of the Holocaust alive by fighting
antisemitism and building bridges for Jewish
continuity by strengthening our relationship
with the State of Israel.
The Inaugural Mission will be an
unforgettable opportunity to see Israel the
way you have always wanted to experience her
and her unique and
dynamic people. To
experience the core
challenges she must
face in the future the divide between
the secular and the religious, between the
“haves” and the “have-nots”, between Israelis
and Palestinians, and Israel and her Arab
neighbors. An opportunity to interact and listen
to both today’s and
tomorrow’s leaders.
To interact with her
extraordinary people.
To be moved to
tears and laughter.
To visit inspirational historical sites, staying
in five-star hotels, combining phenomenal
tours, and once-in-a-lifetime encounters.
The Center’s Mission faculty will draw on
their interaction over the years with American
Presidents and world leaders including Pope
John Paul II, French President Chirac, King
Abdullah and the
late King Hussein of
Jordan, and Israeli
Prime Ministers
from Menachem
Begin to Yitzhak
Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Shimon
Peres, Yitzchak Shamir, Ehud Barak, and
Ariel Sharon.
As we begin construction on our new
Center For Human Dignity Jerusalem, this
Inaugural Mission will show you the Israel
you will never forget, the experiences
you will recount over and over with your
family and friends. Join us on the Simon
Wiesenthal Center’s Inaugural Leadership
Mission to Israel. ■
Security Briefings with leading intelligence and military experts
Explore the ancient Kotel Tunnels alongside the Western Wall’s massive foundation stones
Explore the ancient City of David. Even today, the illustrious line of archeological excavations that
began in the area over 130 years ago continues. As the ancient secrets of King David’s city are revealed,
Jerusalem’s former glory has once again returned to the city that stands as the spiritual center of the world.
A remarkable historical and archaeological experience
Visit an IDF Army base in the Negev. See and hear firsthand the frontline efforts of the brave young men
and women who secure Israel’s borders
Experience the beauty of Shabbat in the Holy City
Visit Israel’s generations-old Druze community in Dalyat al Karmel to hear about their fierce patriotism
and experiences of living in the Jewish State
Pay a visit to the largest synagogue in Israel, seat of the Belzer Rebbe, scion of a revitalized Hasidic
dynasty that had been virtually wiped out by the Nazis
Learn about a project for social change among Bedouin women in the village of Lakiya in the Negev
Tour the site of our new Center for Human Dignity, one of the most ambitious cultural and educational
projects ever undertaken in the Land of Israel. This magnificent campus, designed by renowned architect,
Frank Gehry, will be a dynamic space for people from all walks of life to come together to address issues
of human dignity, social justice and mutual responsibility
■
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For more information, contact the Center’s headquarters at 800.900.9036.
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PLEASE SEND INFORMATION ABOUT:
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Becoming a Museum of Tolerance docent
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Tax advantaged planned giving
Rabbi Abraham Cooper
Meetings with Israel’s top leaders - present and future
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Name________________________________________________
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Your contribution helps the Simon
Wiesenthal Center fight antisemitism
and bigotry around the world. We
are deeply grateful for the support of
our members.
Associate Dean
Rabbi Meyer H. May
Executive Director
Susan Burden
Chief Financial Officer
Chief Administrative Officer
Liebe Geft
Director, Museum of Tolerance
Marlene Levine
Director, Membership Development
Avra Shapiro*
Director, Public Relations
Richard Trank
Director, Media Projects
Janice Prager
Director, Major Gifts
Michele Alkin
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Vivien Park
Controller
* For press related inquiries call 310.772.2458
15 : 800 900 9036 : www.wiesenthal.com : response magazine
Winner of the 1981 Academy Award
NEW
®
for best feature documentary
EVER AGAIN
GENOCIDE
Narrated by Kevin Costner
Narrated by Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles
BEAUTIFUL
MUSIC is the
remarkable story of
Devorah Schramm,
an American-born,
Orthodox Jewish
pianist and composer
who teaches piano
to a blind and
severely autistic
Palestinian girl, Rasha
Hamid, in the worst days of the Intifada.This
heartwarming true story of the dedication
of a teacher to her student is a snapshot of
what is possible when peace finally comes
to the Middle East.
Running Time 37 min.
q NEW! Beautiful Music
q BOXED SET(S) of six DVDs
q Unlikely Heroes
THE LONG WAY HOME
Narrated by Morgan Freeman.
TH E LO N G WAY
H O M E examines the
critical post-World War II
period between 1945-1948
and the struggle of the
tens of thousands of
displaced Jewish refugees
to find dignity and
renewal in the aftermath
of the Nazi Holocaust.
Running time 1 hr, 54 min.
IN SEARCH OF PEACE
UNLIKELY HEROES
Narrated by Michael Douglas
Narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley
IN SEARCH OF
PEACE: 1948-1967
chronicles Israel’s first
two decades, offering new
insights on the origins of
the Middle East conflict.
Combining a rich tapestry
of rare archival film and
photos, the film offers a
global perspective on one
of the seminal events in the
3,500-year history of the Jewish people.
Running time 1 hr, 42 min.
by buying the original six DVD
box set, plus our two new releases,
Ever Again and Beautiful
Music, for $ 1 6 0 .
q NEW! Ever Again
LIBERATION
Narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley, Miriam
Margolyes, Patrick Stewart, Jean Boht and
Whoopi Goldberg.
LI B E R ATI O N i s
unique among the many
documentaries on WW
II because it addresses
two themes in a single
film: the Allied campaign
to liberate Europe and
Adolf Hitler’s genocidal
war against the Jews.
Running time 1 hr, 40 min.
SAVE
UNLIKELY HEROES
documents unknown stories
of resistance during WWII
including: a Rabbi’s son who
disguised himself as a Major
in the SS to save Jews; a young
woman involved in the plot
to blow up a crematorium
in Birkenau; and a Jew who
defied Eichmann, devising
an extraordinary scheme
for 40,000 Jews to get to Palestine.
Running time 1 hr, 56 min
.
Subtotal
$160.00 ______
Name _______________________________________________________
____ DVD(s) $ 29.95 ______
Address ______________________________________________________
____ DVD(s) $ 15.95 ______
City ________________________ State _________ Zip ___________
____ SET(s)
$120.00 ______
Phone ( ________ ) _____________________________________________
____ DVD(s) $ 24.95 ______
E-mail _______________________________________________________
q BOXED SET + 2 NEW RELEASES ____ SET(s)
®
for best feature documentary
Narrated by Brooke Shields
(Eight total)
ECHOES THAT REMAIN
is a poignant study of
Jewish shtetl life before
the Holocaust. It combines
hundreds of rare archival
photographs and previously
unseen film footage with
live action sequences shot
on location at the sites of
former Jewish communities
in Eastern Europe.
Running time 1 hr.
Winner of the 1997 Academy Award
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC
Quantity
Narrated by Martin Landau and Miriam Margolyes
GENOCIDE is the story
of the millions of people
who fell victim to Hitler’s
“Final Solution.” A unique
multi-image documentary
which combines historical
narrative with actual stories
about people caught up in
the Nazi reign of terror.
Running time 1 hr, 23 min.
EVER AGAIN
examines the
resurgence
of European
antisemitism as
it exposes the
dangerous Islamic
extremism and
culture of death
being preached
from the mosques
of Europe’s major cities. It examines shifts
from the traditional antisemitism of the
right to the antisemitism of the extreme left.
Running time 69 mins.
Please Send Me
ECHOES THAT REMAIN
q In Search of Peace: 1948-1967 ____ DVD(s) $ 24.95 ______
q The Long Way Home
____ DVD(s) $ 24.95 ______
q Liberation
____ DVD(s) $ 24.95 ______
q Echoes That Remain
____ DVD(s) $ 24.95 ______
q Genocide
____ DVD(s) $ 24.95 ______
* Standard Shipping in Cont. U.S.A. ______
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organization of my/your choice:
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Phone Orders: 800-900-9036 / 800-553-4474
Fax Orders: 310-772-7654 / 310-772-7668
Email: giftshop@wiesenthal.net
Museum of Tolerance Store
9786 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035
*Standard shipping in Continental U.S.:
under $25 add $5.00; $26 to $99 add $8.00
$100 to $499 add $16.00; over $500 add $22.00
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Please make checks payable to: Museum of Tolerance
All proceeds go to further our
educational programs
The set of six films is also available on VHS.
www.wiesenthal.com • www.moriahfilms.com