The Wiesenthal File

Relates Simon Wiesenthal's biography and the most prominent of his activities. Wiesenthal was born in Galicia, and during the Second World War went through a number of labor and concentration camps. Disappointed by the laxity of American military authorities, he founded his own Documentation Center in Austria to trace Nazi war criminals. Wiesenthal played a key role in tracking down Eichmann, Mengele, Stangl of Treblinka, Wagner of Sobibór, and Braunsteiner-Ryan of Majdanek. Wiesenthal was also active in the search for Wallenberg. In 1986 he was involved in the Waldheim affair. Despite the World Jewish Congress's firm belief that Waldheim was a war criminal, Wiesenthal could not substantiate these allegations, and came to Waldheim's defense. Wiesenthal's activities brought him into conflict with Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Chancellor and a "self-hating Jew".