Jewish group praises acquisition of Mengele diary
Simon Wiesenthal Center says family pledged to keeping diary of 'Angel of Death' safe in Jewish hands made important contribution to preserving memory of Holocaust
The Simon Wiesenthal Center said last week that the anonymous acquisition of the Mengele diary, written by Auschwitz’s infamous "Angel of Death", Dr. Josef Mengele, who was personally responsible for sending hundreds of thousands of people to the gas chambers and for conducting horrific experiments on women and children, is an important contribution to preserving the memory of the Holocaust.
“I spoke to the family that acquired the diary and learned that more than 100 of their close relatives were murdered in the concentration camps, including dozens who saw Dr. Josef Mengele in action at Auschwitz,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
“They want the world to know that their only motivation in acquiring the diary was to ensure that it remains in Jewish hands to serve as an integral part of the education of future generations about the infamy of history’s greatest crime.”
“At a time when Ahmadinejad’s Iran regularly denies the Holocaust and anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews is back in vogue, this acquisition is especially significant,” Hier concluded.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States.
