The most famous Nazi hunter and surviving victim of concentration camps died on Tuesday in Vienna at the age of 96.
"He will be remembered for his nickname 'Nazi hunter', but he will be remembered in history books as someone who impressed in the consciousness of people throughout the world the notion that war crimes cannot and must not ever be forgotten and that those who commit them will eventually be brought to justice," Mesic said recalling that Wiesenthal had contributed to several spectacular searches for the most notorious Nazi war criminals. Although he was not always successful, he prompted the authorities of many countries to cooperate with him or investigate war crimes themselves, Mesic said.
"The activity of his centre in Vienna, which today is continued by the Jerusalem-based centre named after him, was directed primarily towards researching the Holocaust and crimes committed against Jews in World War II, but the message of that activity was and remains universal and it refers to every war crime and every war criminal - there is no statute of limitations for war crimes and war criminals must never sleep peacefully," President Mesic said in his statement.