Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal File [Paperback]

Alan Levy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2002 | ISBN-10: 078671090X | ISBN-13: 978-0786710904 | Edition: Revised

This is the remarkable story of a man who has become a legend in his own lifetime. Simon Wiesenthal spent four and a half years in Mauthausen concentration camp during the Second World War. With the exception of his wife, all his immediate family were exterminated, and he himself ended the war a living skeleton. Since then, he has achieved international renown for his tireless tracking down of Nazi war criminals—including his capture of Eichmann, the “desk murderer” who masterminded Hitler’s Final Solution, and Stangl the overlord of Treblinka—and for his pursuit of Mengele of Auschwitz, the dreaded “Angel of Death.” To this day his work continues, his motivation simply expressed in the words: “Justice, not vengeance.” The accounts of inspired detective work that lie behind Wiesenthal’s successful apprehension of the fugitives reads as excitingly as any thriller, but Alan Levy’s book is much more than that. It is an award-winning examination of the work of one of the greatest Jewish figures of the twentieth century. 8 pages of black-and-white photographs bring to life this gripping account of the life-long pursuit of justice by the man who declared “So long as the criminals are free, the war has not ended for me.” “Wiesenthal has played his part in a disturbing episode of post-war history. [A] readable and intelligent book.”—The Times (London)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Wiesenthal is a unique survivor... his one purpose is that justice for the dead of Europe, those wilfully killed by his fellow Austrian, Hitler's decree, be not forgotten. To understand him read Levy's book.' - Sunday Telegraph; 'It is greatly to the credit of Alan Levy that he has dared to give us an objective account of Wiesethal's career.' - Sunday Times; '[Wiesenthal] can have no finer interpreter and sympathiser than Alan Levy, who has dealt justly with him.' - Financial Times; 'Wiesenthal has played his part in a disturbing episode of post-war history. He deserves this readable and intelligent book.' - The Times; Levy is ruthless in his determination to make every act of barbarity clear. It is impossible to turn the pages without feeling not just despair but revulsion.' - New Statesman & Society --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alan Levy is editor of the English-language newspaper The Prague Post and has published many previous works, including his highly acclaimed eyewitness account of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. He lives in New York. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; Revised edition (August 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078671090X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786710904
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #761,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Destined to become a classic amongst Holocaust literature!, November 14, 2002

By 

M. D Roberts (Gwent, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal File (Paperback)

"Nazi Hunter; The Wiesenthal File" is an extraordinary book about an extraordinary man. The biography of Simon Wiesenthal is likely to become a classic amongst Holocaust literature. Seldom does one come across a book as moving and factual as this.

Simon Wiesenthal, now aged over 93 years, spent over four and a half years in Nazi concentration camps. David Levy here presents Weisenthal's story of his experiences during that era and his subsequent tireless pursuit of bringing to justice so many Nazi war criminals.

The book movingly documents how Wiesenthal regularly, personally, witnessed the systematic execution of fellow Jews, who were killed for no other reason than being Jewish. Murdered indiscriminately in cold blood by people who clearly took real pleasure and delight in killing Jews.

One of the first such incidents detailed in the book is where Simon Wiesenthal, together with about forty other professional Jewish men, were placed in a courtyard at Lvov. Here each Jew was forced to stand alongside a crate, facing a wall with his hands crossed & held behind his neck. Each Jew was then shot one at a time, by a single bullet in the back of the neck by a Ukrainian executioner, who after each murder treated himself to wine and food from a table placed in their midst. The body of the dead Jew then being cast into the crate.

The author tells how the massacre continued until it came close to Wiesenthal's turn, when the sound of church bells filled the air. The shooting stopped immediately. Being 'good' Catholic's the Ukrainian executioners immediately responded to the church bells calling them to Mass, leaving the prisoners locked away for the atrocities to continue later.

The author explains how Weisenthal evaded death on this occasion but Simon soon ended up in the ghetto and from there to the concentration camp at Janowska.

The author describes in detail the conditions at Janowska, where living on minuscule rations and undergoing hard labour, took a devastating toll on Simon's companions. The book describes how those considered 'sick' were subjected to a 'fresh air cure'. This entailed them all lying outdoors all night in the freezing sub-zero conditions. Any who moved or stood up were shot by sentries. Those who remained on the ground froze to death by morning. Many taking the 'quick' way out and standing up...the sentries immediately obliging...shooting them dead in cold blood.

The conditions at Janowska are further described in terms of how escapes were treated. The entire, immediate family of any escapee being collected from the ghetto and imprisoned in solitary confinement for three days without light or food. When the remorse stricken escapee surrendered, he was then mercilessly beaten to death in the presence of his family. If the escapee did not return or surrender, the entire family & children were then shot dead......

The depth and detail in this book is incredible. Far too much to cover here satisfactorily.

Detailed accounts are provided of Wiesenthal's pursuit of Adolf Eichman, Joseph Mengele, Franz Stangl & other Nazi war criminals. This is an incredible, priceless examination and account of the work of one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th century, one of the survivors.

With the exception of his wife, Simon Wiesenthal's whole immediate family were exterminated by the Nazi regime. To understand the man and his mission, you need to read this marvellous book. So highly recommended !!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great addition to Holocaust literature, July 10, 2003

By 

Steven A. Rappaport (Prague Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal File (Paperback)

Alan Levy does an excellent job documenting both the life of Weisenthal and of the killers he hunted. One of the most striking points is the change in the ideas and attitude of these war criminals from the pre- to post- war period. The continued complicity of governments in hiding these fugitives until today is unbelievable as is the existence of clandestine organizations such as Odessa, which directly assist them.

One of the most interesting parts of the book I found was about Kurt Waldheim and the struggle that former military personal have with admission of their involvement with the German army. Living in Europe, it is easy to assume the collective guilt of the older generation of Germans and Austrians, but much harder to imagine the choices they faced both during and after the war. We get to imagine it from both the side of master and slave in the course of this book. I am currently living in a former Communist country, where Stb agents (Czech KGB) and Communist party members were some of the first to profit from the change to capitalism, so I can clearly imagine in some ways how the post-war period was for both Germany and Austria. The inclination to forget the past and move on is great, and yet, at least here, the same "leaders" have managed to change outfits with such little protest. It is 12 years since the fall of communism and there have been so few investigations here of the crimes of former government officials, that the situation seems comic. The people of Czechoslavakia just as the Germans did before them, want to forget, and yet justice will only be done when people with Simon Weisenthal's courage and drive become involved.

Levy goes to great lengths to highlight the Weisenthal coda defining the difference between a war criminal and personnel who were aware and complicit during the time war crimes were occurring. Weisenthal placed a great deal of emphasis on both truth and morality in his work, but the author shows balance in pointing out that he didn't always get it right.

This is a great read and a book that is hard to put down. Highly recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Riveting...Then Boring, February 2, 2005

By 

Jerry Wilt "JBW857" (Katy, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal File (Paperback)

First of all, I'd like to state the book (most of it) was quite riveting. Levy begins with a look at Wiesenthal's experience as a young Jew in pre-war Europe. He later chronicles Simon's life during the war in the camps and his search for his family after the war. The stories make for fascinating reading. Then, Levy writes how Simon got into the business of Nazi hunting.

The chapters describing the hunts for Adolf Eichmann (and the rivals between Mossad and Wiesenthal), Josef Mengele, and Franz Stangl were absoluting quality reading. After the chapters on these three Nazis, and the brief chapter on the concentration camp guards, the book takes a different path and describes the ordeal of Raoul Wallenberg. Although Wallenberg was not a Nazi, but a humanist dedicating to saving the lives of Jews, I had to ask myself what this chapter was doing in the book. Nevertheless, it was quite fascinating to read about the ordeal Wallenberg faced and to read what actually happened to him during the war, and especially, after the war.

At this point, you can quit reading the book. The next chapters dealt with Bruno Kriesky and Kurt Waldheim. I didn't have a clue who Bruno was. (I believe he became chancellor of Austria during the '70s). Why was he in this book? As far as I can tell, it was due to Simon and Bruno not liking each other. Bruno was a Jew who claimed that he was not a Jew and tried to distance himself from Jews during the war. He didn't kill any Jews, so why have his story in this book? It's wasted space.

As far as Waldheim is concerned, the jury appears to be out as far as his guilt is concerned. There never seems to be direct evidence pointing to Waldheim as to whether he was responsible for killing partisans (or at least KNEW some killings took place)
in Yugoslavia. Waldheim's superiors (during the war) say that he did not have the authority to kill or order killings; a sargaent who reported to Waldheim said that he did. Some say he was present at the time the killings took place; others said he was not. Some say that as part of intelligence, and as a lowly lieutenant, Waldheim would not have known about partisan killings. Others said how did he not know? If no one knows the truth, why read it about in this book? Even the Yugoslavian government has refused to prosecute. So, I may ask, why fill 150 pages of this book if there is no conclusive evidence that Waldheim is guilty? The later part of these chapters were very boring. The book was about hunting murderous NAZIS, not about people who were ashamed of being Jewish or about German Army officers.

The book should have included the hunt for Nazi Klaus Barbie and other Nazis who eluded capture for many years. Then, I would have rated this book 4 stars. But, to include chapters on Bruno Kriesky and Kurt Waldheim? A real time waster.