Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi Hunter, who did not forget the 6 million murdered Jews
Simon Wiesenthal dedicated his life to the search for Nazis and their collaborators. He was involved in bringing over 1,100 Nazis to justice. These included, among others, Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the final solution.
In this talk, the life and heritage of Simon Wiesenthal will be presented, including personal stories from a granddaughter’s perspective as well as his major achievements. The presentation will be followed by a discussion on his legacy. In case of a younger audience, focus will be put on the story of Anne Frank.
The Simon Wiesenthal Genealogy Geolocation Initiative (SWIGGI) – an innovative digital platform
Over the course of the last 25 years, my genealogy research led to to the development of the Simon Wiesenthal Genealogy Geolocation Initiative (SWIGGI). SWIGGI is an innovative platform which assists people to identify the (exact location of) 19th and 20th century houses of their family members. SWIGGI focuses on the Galician towns Skala Podolska and Nadworna, nowadays in the Ukraine, (Ghetto) Lodz and its 250,000 Jewish inhabitants, Vienna, and the life before the war as well as the fate of its 65,000 transported Jews, the Netherlands and the deportation of its 104,000 Jews. Holocaust victims are commemorated via the Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Memorial.
In this presentation I will present SWIGGI, the Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Memorial as well as the deportation maps of the Viennese and Dutch Jews. Examples of prominent Jews, of elderly people, of children and of entire families will be demonstrated.
Institutions carrying the name of Simon Wiesenthal – which legacy do they carry on?
Various institutions are carrying the name of Simon Wiesenthal, the first being the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles in 1977. After his passing in September 2005 streets in Israel and abroad were named after him; the KKL Simon Wiesenthal Path in the Martyrs’ Forest was inaugurated and the VWI - Vienna Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies was established. Recently, the Austrian Simon Wiesenthal award for fighting anti-Semitism is awarded.
In this presentation, some of these name bearing sites and their connection to Simon Wiesenthal will be presented. A discussion will follow on the contribution of Simon Wiesenthal to seeking justice and not revenge, combating Holocaust denial and fighting antisemitism.
Dr. Racheli Kreisberg
Simon Wiesenthal's legacy
Israel
English, Dutch, Hebrew, moderate German
Dr. Racheli Kreisberg is an entrepreneur and an innovation expert. She serves as Innovation Attaché at the Netherlands Embassy in Israel and established in 2016 the Israeli Dutch Innovation Center.
Racheli is commemorating Simon Wiesenthal, her late grandfather. She develops the Simon Wiesenthal Genealogy Geolocation Initiative (SWIGGI), an innovative genealogy platform which links family trees to Google Maps, as well as the Simon Wiesenthal Holocaust Memorial (SW-HoMe) to commemorate Holocaust victims.
Racheli holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Molecular Microbiology and an Executive MBA from Tel Aviv University (TAU), and a M.Sc. in Chemistry (summa cum laude) from the Technion.