I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal

I saw a very inspirational documentary last night on Simon Wiesenthal at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. I had known that he was a famous Nazi hunter, but he did so much more. What perhaps struck me the most was that Simon spent his whole life researching and bringing these people to justice, yet, he did not think of himself as a hero. He felt that it was his duty as a survivor to never forget those who had perished. He brought attention to the fact that the Nazis also killed millions of gypsies, homosexuals, Catholics, and mentally or physically disabled people, and others. Mr. Wiesnthal received numerous death threats and his home was fire-bombed, yet he stayed in Vienna. He had a single-minded determination to continue no matter what. You might remember that Kurt Waldheim was elected president of Austria, and Wiesenthal did not denounce him as a war criminal, even though he had been a Nazi. Wiesenthal said that Waldheim's actions did not rise to that level. Many Jewish organizations were angry with Wiesenthal for this. But the fact that there wasn't enough evidence to bring Waldheim up on charges only gave more credibility to Wiesenthal and his work. Even though he lived with the Holocaust everyday, he was able to separate himself from it. There were many pictures of Simon smiling and laughing, and the people interviewed said he was a very jolly man who would sometimes tell dirty jokes. :) I love watching movies about people like Mr. Wiesenthal who inspire and teach by their example. Kudos to Director Richard Trank for creating a beautiful film. You can see a movie that was adapted from Wiesenthal's memoirs starring Sir Ben Kingsley as Simon Wiesenthal called "Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story". The miniseries was nominated for two Emmy's and won one for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or Special, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or a Special.