Wiesenthal Says Ignoring Non-Jewish Victims of Nazism is a Mistake

Simon Wiesenthal charged here that focussing on the six million Jews who were exterminated by the Nazis while ignoring five million other people who were slaughtered by the Nazis has cost the Jews the friendship of the families and friends of the non-Jews who were killed. He emphasized, however, that Jews everywhere should regard themselves as survivors of the Holocaust since the Nazis planned for the systematic extermination of Jews in every country, including the United States.

The famed Nazi-hunter, who offered these observations in an address to some 1100 persons at Temple Israel, according to a report in The Jewish Advocate, stated that a total of 11 million people lost their lives in the Holocaust, including French, Italians, Danes, Dutch, Poles, Gypsies. Scandinavians as well as Jews. He said the crimes committed by the Nazis were not war crimes because they pre-dated the war by six years and should be called "Nazi crimes."

Wiesenthal warned that in three years when the statute of limitations expires, Nazis can be expected to re-group and make another bid for power, not necessarily in Germany, but in some other country. Unless all people are constantly vigilant, another Holocaust is possible, he said.

In this connection, he noted that the richest and most powerful Nazi party is now based in the U.S.–the American Nazi Party. It finances the printing of hate literature from Arlington, Virginia, Mt. Vernon, New York and Lincoln, Nebraska. Wiesenthal termed Jewish support of the American Civil Liberties Union short-sighted because the ACLU defends the right of free speech and press of the party. By supporting the ACLU, Jews are aiding and abetting their own destruction, he said.