Goodbye, Simon

Early in Beautiful Horizon's history on Blogger I wrote about Simon Wiesenthal's retirement and I'd like to share some memories of the man I met on several occasions some twenty four years ago.

During that time I worked for a lecture agency that represented Mr. Wiesenthal. It was an extremely unpleasant work experience (never work for a husband and wife unless you are either husband or wife), but one of the brightest moments was accompanying Simon Wiesenthal to a lecture at C W Post College on Long Island. I met him with my boss and my boss's wife at the Doral on Park Avenue. I rode in the back seat with Mr. Wiesenthal, my twenty-four year old's mind in awe of the man. He spent the trip cracking jokes and putting us at ease. When Mr. Wiesenthal took the stage he was greeted with a ten minute standing ovation whereupon he mesmerized the crowd and left them squarely on the double-edged sword of sorrow, despair and rage for man's inhumanity to man and hope and relief that Mr. Wiesenthal would most assuredly stand on its head the timeworn, but valid concept that evil occurs when good men do nothing by devoting his life as a good man doing something about evil. He never gave up hope, he never quit, he never forgot, he never shirked the obligations he felt. He never took the easy way out.

I also had the pleasure of experiencing the warmth of his personality, his humbleness and his subtly ribald sense of humor. He remembered the names of all the staff in the office and always greeted us with a smile. He exuded humanity and warmth.

The one thing that I always remembered about him and had the single greatest impression on me was his statement that 11 million people died in the Holocaust, not 6 million. It was always important to him that the horrific experience that he had the good fortune to survive was not perpetrated solely against the Jews, but against all decent people and against all humanity, hence the term crimes against humanity. Shortly thereafter was when I got involved with Amnesty International.

Now he's gone. He will be missed, but the world is a little brighter, juster and more decent because of his efforts. Very few of us will have that said about us. I'll never forget him nor the impression he left on me. Rest in peace, Simon.

Comments

[Roxanne -]

What a wonderful Eulogy!

[boz]

In case you haven't seen it, you may appreciate this op-ed in the Miami Herald.