I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Times of Simon Wiesenthal

This is powerful documentary about the Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal is a film that nobody should miss. And I would make sure that young people see it because they need to know what happened over 60 years - especially since there seem to be a number of Holocaust deniers out there today.

The film starts out with young Simon's losing his father during World War II. He studied to become an architect (as he always had a talent for building things) and was working in that capacity before the war. The film talks a bit about how he met Cyla, the woman who would become his wife. Of course, we find out about what happened to him during the war (he was sent from camp to camp). After the war he could have gone back to the type of life he had before. Instead he chose to dedicate his life to bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. And this was his passion to the day he died.

Director Richard Trank did a marvelous job of putting this film together. There are several interviews with Wiesenthal from various times in his life. We find out how he tracked down some of the Nazis, many of whom were living in South America. Cyla makes a few comments during the film. And there is a wonderful interview with his daughter Paulinka that was done after Wiesenthal died. Oh, and there is so much more to the film but I just think that you should go out and see it (or rent it when if comes out on DVD if you can't make it to the theater).

Simon Wiesenthal shows us how dedicated person can make a real difference in the world. But despite everything that he had been through he had never lost his sense of humor (without that life would be so grim). And that is one of the things that made him the great man that he was.