Simon Wiesenthal: A Life in Search of Justice [Hardcover]

Hella Pick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 1996

Simon Wiesenthal survived thirteen concentration camps and has since spent more than fifty years searching for Nazi war criminals and bringing them to trial. This comprehensive and objective biography chronicles Wiesenthal's early life and survival in the camps, recounts in gripping detail each of his major Nazi hunts, and evenhandedly examines the conflicting reputations -- as both hero and egomaniacal liar -- of this controversial and enigmatic public figure.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Simon Wiesenthal is known worldwide for his tenacious pursuit of Nazi war criminals, his resistance to historical revisionists, and his insistence that the world must remember the Holocaust. His has been a voice for those who did not survive. Hella Pick, a writer with The Guardian of London, tells Wiesenthal's personal story, which includes his experience as a prisoner at the Janowska concentration camp in Poland, an experience which inspired his mission to make the world remember. In Auschwitz in 1994 he explained, "My whole life's meaning is to ensure that the murderers of tomorrow--who may not even be born yet--must know that they will have no peace."

From Publishers Weekly

Pick, former diplomatic editor of the Guardian, acknowledges that she was asked to write a biography of Simon Wiesenthal but insists that this flattering view is more than an authorized version of the Austrian Nazi-hunter's life and career. Still, this account is exceptionally one-sided. Born into a religious family in Galicia, Wiesenthal was trained as an architect but has spent the time since his liberation from Mauthausen concentration camp documenting the hideous crimes of individual Nazis, particularly members of the SS, and trying to bring those still living to justice. His work immediately after the war did provide invaluable information to the prosecutors at Nuremberg, but, ironically, his fame rests on an event he was less closely involved with?the arrest of Adolph Eichmann, the ultimate "desk murderer." Wiesenthal has long claimed to have been instrumental in Eichmann's capture in Argentina, but that interpretation has been contradicted by the leader of the Israeli undercover team. Wiesenthal has other enemies as well, and Pick laboriously details each argument and misunderstanding between Wiesenthal and leaders of various Jewish organizations and Austrian politicians. She is familiar with the torturous and nasty workings of Austrian politics, but readers might have been more interested in why Wiesenthal chose to live in such a virulently anti-Semitic country.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (August 8, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155553273X
• ISBN-13: 978-1555532734
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,529,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Story!, January 17, 2003

By 

Melvin Hunt (Cleveland,, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Simon Wiesenthal: A Life in Search of Justice (Hardcover)

This is an excellent story about the life of Simon Wiesenthal. This fine book takes you through Wiesenthal's mission in life to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. You are shown the time that he spent in a concentration camp up until the present.You are also given the inside look at some of the cases he dealt with in bringing Nazi war criminals to justice.This is avery good book about the life of Simon Wiesenthal.