Simon Wiesenthal survived several extermination/concentration camps. His mother died in one.* He thought his wife perished. As the war ended and his camp was freed by the Americans he began helping to testify against SS guards and tracking them down. It turned into a life long passion.

This is not a hagiography as the author acknowledges that Wiesenthal has had some shortcomings. But, the author correctly points out that Wiesenthal has contributed much to our understanding of the holocaust and how it should be dealt with. There are evil people who probably would not have been brought to justice in this world were it not for the work of Wiesenthal. This is his story.

*I thought one of the most moving parts of the story was when Wiesenthal described how his mother was picked up while he was away from home and packed into a very crowded train bound for a concentration camp. The train sat on the edge of town for three days. The people inside the box cars calling for water but the guards would not let anyone approach. How anguished and helpless to know your elderly mother may be literally dying of thirst on a train car right on the edge of your town and you cannot do anything about it. Wiesenthal never knew if he mother perished in a box car or survived to die in the concentration camp. ( )