Simon Wiesenthal Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005), born in Poland, practiced architecture in Lvov until WWII. Persecuted first by Soviet authorities after the partition of Poland (1939), Wiesenthal narrowly escaped being a victim of the Holocaust that claimed the lives of 89 family members. He survived three years in the Nazi death camps, escaping once only to be recaptured. After the war, Wiesenthal dedicated his life to pursuing the perpetrators of genocide on behalf of the six million Jews and millions of other victims of crimes against humanity. From his Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna, Wiesenthal compiled the clues that led to the capture of notorious Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann, who was tried and executed in Jerusalem in 1961. Other villains tracked down by Wiesenthal included the Gestapo officer who arrested Anne Frank and the commandant of the Treblinka death camp. Wiesenthal's writings include The Murderers Among Us (1967). The Simon Wiesenthal Center, headquartered in Los Angeles, was created in 1977 to continue the pursuit of Holocaust criminals while combating all forms of bigotry. A further legacy of Wiesenthal will be the Center for Human Dignity and Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.