New York, NY, September 20, 2005 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) mourns the passing of Simon Wiesenthal, a leader in the fight to bring justice to the millions who died in the Holocaust and an impassioned voice of conscience against anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor, issued the following statement:

Simon Wiesenthal was a hero who carried the torch of justice at a time when there was a paralysis of conscience over responsibility for the Holocaust.  People accused him of vengeance, but his was a quest for justice and not for vengeance.  In the aftermath of the war there was an avalanche of cover up, a conspiracy of silence as the Allies began to work with former Nazis and the Soviets, but Simon Wiesenthal never relented in his pursuit of those who bore responsibility for the Holocaust, and he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.  He brought a measure of justice to the six million victims of the Nazi genocide.

Even though many of those responsible for the crimes of the Holocaust were never brought to justice, they never had a peaceful night from the day Simon Wiesenthal raised his voice.  No Nazi war criminal, big or small, was able to rest peacefully because he never knew when Wiesenthal's voice of moral outrage would find him.  His determined leadership in the fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of prejudice will be sorely missed.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.