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Simon Wiesenthal passed away September 20, 2005 at the age of 96.
Professor Dan McGowan, founder of DEIR YASSIN REMEMBERED, met with him in
1994. I'm forwarding Dan's email about that meeting.
Monica
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
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--- Begin Message --- Title: Simon Wiesenthal and his legacy to Deir Yassin Remembered
Simon Wiesenthal and his legacy to Deir Yassin Remembered
I met Simon Wiesenthal in Vienna in the Winter of 1994. I was looking for male Jews who would be interested in serving, or at least be willing to serve, on the Board of Advisers of Deir Yassin Remembered.
I had already written to Elie Wiesel, but he had refused to answer a similar request. He also refused to meet with me on two occasions when I was in Boston. I was getting use to rejection.
On my way back from a conference in Gaza, I purposely stopped in Vienna to see Herr Wiesenthal and to tell him about the Deir Yassin Remembered project and to ask him to join the Board. I knew where he lived through my wife’s cousin who lives in Vienna. When I approached him, I found a frail man in his mid eighties.
I addressed him in German. He seemed to relax a bit when I told him I was American (which I am sure he already knew from my accent) and that I admired his work. But as I described the purpose of Deir Yassin Remembered, namely to build a memorial to the victims of Deir Yassin at the site of the massacre in Jerusalem, he became more apprehensive.
I handed him an outline of the project and asked him to join the organization. He declined. I then asked if we might use his famous quote, “Hope Lives When People Remember.” He said, “Go ahead; it is all the same to me.” (Das ist mir Wurscht.) And he turned and walked away.
From that time on, in spite of objection by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in California, Deir Yassin Remembered has used the slogan, “Hope Lives When People Remember.”
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