The remarkable spirit of Simon Wiesenthal

The famed pursuer of Nazi war criminals, Simon Wiesenthal, died in Vienna this week and was buried in Israel. He was a true Central European - born in the town of Buczacs when it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - it's now in Ukraine. He studied in Vienna and was an architect in Prague when the German army moved in. As a Jew he was imprisoned and eighty-nine members of his family were to die in the Holocaust. Simon Wiesenthal survived. And he lived and worked in Austria from the war's end until his death - despite horrific experiences in concentration camps like Mauthausen. And while his success in tracking down war criminals made him a hero to many - in Austria, recognition came very late.

Simon Wiesenthal, photo: CTK

Simon Wiesenthal was a prisoner at Mauthausen when American troops liberated it in May of 1945. But when he walked through its sombre grey stone gates to liberty he did not feel liberated - for Simon Wiesenthal that would only come with justice. His career as a relentless pursuer of Nazis and justice was about to begin. The veteran Austrian journalist Georg Hoffman-Ostenhof, knew Simon Wiesenthal well:

"What Wiesenthal did at that time was to say that the crimes of the Nazis had names, addresses and faces. And he was looking for them."

In the 1950's and 60's the holocaust survivor became ever more successful in tracking down his former Nazi persecutors - many of them were Austrians.

"The reaction to that was hate. He was absolutely a figure who was hated in Austria and he was a wonderful projection surface for all the hate. He was seen as the Jewish 'revenger'."

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel at the funeral ceremony for Simon Wiesenthal saying Austria must continue his work. When Austria said goodbye to him it was not to a figure of hate but to one of almost universal respect and admiration. But that respect came late. And some would say, for the wrong reasons. When Kurt Waldheim was elected Austrian President in 1986 the World Jewish Congress accused him of war crimes during his time in the German Wehrmacht. Simon Wiesenthal disagreed.

Simon Wiesenthal with his wife Cyla in 1936, photo: CTK

"During the Waldheim affair he was defending Waldheim against the accusations that he was a war criminal. So at that time he was in the eye of the Austrian public... he changed from the revenger to the protector of Austria. At that time he was a hero."

What's remarkable about Simon Wiesenthal is the lack of bitterness against Austria and Austrians. In 1995 at a ceremony in Vienna's Heldenplatz to celebrate 60 years since the end of the war young Austrians made speeches condemning the revival of the far right led by Jorg Haider. Simon Wiesenthal was there - but he seemed unconcerned by Haider and his Freedom Party.

"Fifty years of liberation. This is not only liberation of Austria but also the matter that Nazism is finished. This is very important. And I hope that in the next century there will be no dictatorship and the only ideology will be the ideology of human rights."

The death of Simon Wiesenthal is not the end of his story for Austria. There are hopes of a Vienna Wiesenthal Institute to continue his work on remembering the holocaust. The issue of its funding is likely to be the first test of Austria's commitment to his legacy.