WIESENTHAL CENTER PRAISES ACQUISITION OF MENGELE’S DIARY

WIESENTHAL CENTER PRAISES ACQUISITION OF MENGELE’S DIARY BY FAMILYPLEDGED TO KEEP IT SAFE IN JEWISH HANDS

“At a time when Ahmadinejad’s Iran regularly denies theHolocaust and anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews is back in vogue, this acquisition is especially significant," said Rabbi Marvin Hier

The Simon Wiesenthal Center said today that the anonymous acquisition of the Mengelediary, written by Auschwitz’s infamous ‘Angel of Death,’ Dr. Josef Mengele, who was personally responsible for sending hundreds of thousands of people to the gas chambers and for conductinghorrific experiments on women and children, is an important contribution to preserving the memory of theHolocaust.

“I spoke to the family that acquired the diary this morning and learned thatmore than 100 of their close relatives were murdered in the concentration camps, including dozens who saw Dr. Josef Mengele in action at Auschwitz,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder anddean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “They want the worldto know that their only motivation in acquiring the diary was to ensure that it remains in Jewish hands to serve as an integral part of the education of future generations about the infamy ofhistory’s greatest crime.”

“At a time when Ahmadinejad’s Iran regularly denies the Holocaust and anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews is back in vogue, this acquisition is especially significant,” Hierconcluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rightsorganizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and theLatin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department,310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

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