| I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal
Official Selection 2007 BerlinFilm Festival - Special Selection
NEW SWC DOCUMENTARY ON THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF SIMON WIESENTHAL PREMIERES IN JERUSALEM I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal, the newest film from the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Moriah Films, had its world premiere in Jerusalem in the presence ofmembers of Simon Wiesenthal’s family (see photo). Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman, the feature length documentary examines the life and deeds ofSimon Wiesenthal. It features interviews with longtime associates, government leaders, friends and family members, many of whom have never discussed the legendary Nazi hunter on camera.What drove him to pursue this dangerous and thankless task? What kept him going when for years the odds were against his efforts? What is his legacy today?
In May 1945, when Simon Wiesenthal was liberated from Mauthausen Concentration Camp he weighedless than 100 pounds but he was determined to live. Before the war, he had planned his future as an architect but as he stumbled out of the death camp he said, “Who is there left to buildhomes for?”
In the days after liberation he decided that he must bring those who committed such unspeakable crimes to justice. Throughout his own journey thorough the ‘kingdom of death’, he hadcompiled a list of the murderers he and his fellow inmates had encountered. Simon volunteered to help the American War Crimes Unit and submitted that list to the US Army War CrimesCommittee on May 25, 1945, less than 3 weeks after being liberated. At the time he assumed that his wife, Cyla had been amongst those who perished. It would be months before theydiscovered they had each survived.
Simon Wiesenthal never trained as an investigator but he made up for it through his sheer determination to bring Nazi murderers to justice, not for vengeance, but as an insurance policyto protect future generations from such crimes.
In the early years, few supported him and he was virtually a one-man office. Before books and films began to appear on the Shoah, he was the keeper of the Flame of Remembrance. He helpedbring to justice more than 1,100 Nazi war criminals including the commandants of the Treblinka and Sobibor, and the Gestapo official who arrested Anne Frank. “He would often tell me,”said Rabbi Marvin Hier, “All the Nazis, even those who were never caught, slept less because they knew I was out there and that maybe one day the knock would come on their door.”
Simon Wiesenthal was not a religious man but he strongly believed in G-d. He would always say, “When my life is over and I meet up with the 6 million, I will be proud to say to them, Ihave never forgotten you.”
Director Richard Trank, Moriah Films Executive Producer, and his crew traveled throughout Europe, Israel, North and South America, to film new interviews and obtain new and previouslyunseen archival materials to tell the complete Wiesenthal story. In the coming months, I Have Never Forgotten You will become an important part of our understanding of a greatman’s determined journey for justice and will be available on DVD at www.wiesenthal.com
|