In another life time i went to Amsterdam. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away. There one of the places that i visited was Anne Frank museum. Like most people who visited - i came away with one question, how? How can people be so cruel. and of course Why?

It was about the time that i went through my Holocaust phase, reading and seeing anything that I could lay my hands on. Fiction, non fiction, trial notes the works. And it was there that i came across the work of Simon Wiesenthal - himself a victim of the Holocaust, a person who, after the war, worked tirelessly to ensure that Nazi’s were brought to trial.

Today when i read his obituary in the Guardian, i felt a personal loss.

“When the Holocaust ended in 1945 and the whole world went home to forget, he alone remained behind to remember. He did not forget. He became the permanent representative of the victims, determined to bring the perpetrators of the history’s greatest crime to justice.”

The man who made sure that people who committed the worst kinds of crimes against other humans did not get away with it. Someone who proved that a single individual can make the difference. I hope that his soul finds peace.

Tags: Passing On