SPIEGEL Surfs the Web Remembering Simon Wiesenthal
He was a man who many just referred to as "The Nazi Hunter." Simon Wiesenthal made a name for himself the world over as a man who was not content to see Nazi criminals start their lives over again after the end of World War II. Even as Allied governments seemed content with their catching of the Nazi's top brass, Wiesenthal scoured the world for those upper and mid-level officials whose hands were at least as bloody. His most celebrated breakthrough came in 1959 when the Israeli intelligence service Mossad nabbed Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires -- using information provided by Wiesenthal. Eichmann was later hanged in Israel.
Photo Gallery: Wiesenthal's Search for Justice
During his life, according to the Wiesenthal Center in Vienna, the Jewish architect, who was imprisoned in 12 Nazi concentration camps, managed to help bring over 1,100 former Nazis to justice. On Wednesday, a commemoration is to be held for Wiesenthal in Vienna before he is flown to Israel for burial. He died in his sleep on Monday night at the age of 96. Some will be comforted by the fact that others at the Simon Wiesenthal Center will continue to do his work , even after his death.
The German Election in Photos, Courtesy of Flickr
Flickr just introduced a fun new feature worthy of mention -- tag clusters. If you type in a search of the German election (in this instance, "Wahlkampf "), you get the option of selecting an election "cluster," which breaks out all of the German election photos posted to flickr by theme -- like Gerhard Schröder, Angela Merkel, Green Party, Left Party and so on. Each time you click, it goes deeper and deeper . Very cool.
Günter Grass Is Campaigning -- What about other German Writers?
If Germany has a post-war literary voice, it surely belongs to Nobel Prize in literature winner Günter Grass . But the famed author of "The Tin Drum" is well known in Germany for his political noises, too. At least around campaign time. This election season it's no different. Grass has stumped for Gerhard Schröder almost as hard as Schröder himself. Unfortunately -- and we are willing to blame the translation -- he doesn't seem to have quite the turn of phrase in his political missives as he does in his literary prose. And referring to Schröder opponent Angela Merkel as being part of a "neo-liberal gang" is surely a bit over the top.
But at least he's saying something. Berlin-based Austrian writer Eva Menasse -- also a big Schröder fan -- thinks more German writers should do the same . But Germany wouldn't be Germany if a missive like Menasse's went unchallenged, and writer Tanja Dückers ("Himmelskörper") does the honors. What could be worse, she asks, "when young writers or their generation are unable to develop a political vision of their own? when they think "political engagement" means following an old established party that embodies commonplace Realpolitik?" Not much, is her clear answer.
So instead of talking politics, some of Germany's writers are busy talking about whether they should talk politics or not. Which isn't all that surprising in paradox obsessed Germany.
