Wiesenthal buried in Herzliya
Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal buried in Herziliya on Friday, but no government ministers attend the funeral
Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal was laid to rest in a Herzliya cemetery Friday.
Ambassadors and senior officials from all over the world came to pay their last respects to the Nazi-hunter, who died on Tuesday.
However, not a single government minister came to the funeral.
Deputy Minister Michael Melchior was the only government representative who bothered to attend.
The funeral's organizers criticized the government over the fact that no minister came to pay final respects to Wiesenthal on his last journey.
"Senior people from countries overseas came to the funeral, but it seems that for government ministers, the cemetery in Herziliya is too far," said an organizer.
A government secretary told Ynet, "We thought that Melchior was the right person to send because of his personal connection with Wiesenthal. This is not any less of an honor, he is a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office," said the secretary.
Among those who arrived to the funeral from oversees were ambassadors and senior representatives from Germany, Austria, Poland, the United State, Britain, Italy, Russia, and the EU.
The funeral was also attended by Israeli representatives of the Jewish Agency, and the mayor of Herziliya.
Nazi hunter passes away
Simon Wiesenthal died on Tuesday at the age of 96. A survivor of the Nazi death camps, Wiesenthal dedicated his life to fighting the Nazis. He died in his home in Vienna, Austria.
After the Second World War, Wiesenthal worked for the war crimes department of the American army, collecting testimonies of the horrors committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and began managing a fund for Holocaust survivors.
In 1945, he reunited with his wife, whom he had lost during the Holocaust. Both Wiesenthal and his wife were sure that the other had been lost. In 1946, their daughter was born.
After working with the American army, Wiesenthal, along with 30 volunteers, founded the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in the city of Linz, Austria.
In 1953, Wiesenthal received information that Adolf Eichmann was living in Argentina. He passed the intelligence over to Israeli authorities.
In 1977, he founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Vienna, however, the main branch of the Center is now in Los Angeles.
Together with the Jewish Historical Center, the two organizations were able to bring over a thousand Nazi war criminals to trial.
Tens of thousands of Nazis escaped trial, however.
With accuracy and determination, Wiesenthal worked to build cases which would stand up in court against war criminals. After the cases were complete, they were handed over to the appropriate authorities.
Ilan Marciano contributed to the story
