My Grandfather Simon Wiesenthal - A Family Story to be Never Yet Told Cover Image

My Grandfather Simon Wiesenthal - A Family Story to be Never Yet Told
My Grandfather Simon Wiesenthal - A Family Story to be Never Yet Told

Author(s): Raheli Kreisberg
Subject(s): Jewish studies, Recent History (1900 till today), Family and social welfare, History of the Holocaust
Published by: Wiener Wiesenthal Institut für Holocaust-Studien
Keywords: the history of the family of Simon Wiesenthal; family tree; genealogy;

Summary/Abstract: After his liberation from Mauthausen, Simon Wiesenthal, my late grandfather, was reunited with his wife Cyla Muller. They realized all too soon that all 89 of their relatives had been murdered. This is the notion we grew up with: “we have no family”. Over the years, I made multiple attempts to ask my grandparents about their family, but my notes remained almost empty. Upon the passing of Simon Wiesenthal, I renewed my efforts to explore our family roots and analysed personal letters and tombstones, as well as communicating with people sharing the name Wiesenthal and, most importantly, genealogy pals. This lecture focuses on the discovery of Simon Wiesenthal’s ancestors and their families. This search led to the establishment of a huge and robust family tree now shared with the public in various databases, and a story to tell to all those who are interested in the man who dedicated his life to bringing Nazi criminals and their collaborators to justice.

  • Issue Year: 4/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 146-166
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: English