The death of Simon Wiesenthal on Sept. 20, a Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to the often lonely mission of hunting Nazi war criminals, leaves a rich legacy for the notion of justice and of the responsibility of civilization to not overlook or forget atrocities against humanity.

Around the world, leaders paid their respects to a relentless champion for justice, the dignity of the Jewish people and the obligation of civilized society to hold those who commit crimes against humanity accountable.

Paul Spiegel, Chairman of the Jewish Central Council in Germany, called Wiesenthal's death a great loss and Israeli President Mosche Katzav said Wiesenthal was the very embodiment of human decency.

"Simon Wiesenthal was the conscience of the Holocaust," said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Dean and founder of the Wiesenthal Center, the international human-rights NGO that was his namesake. "He became the permanent representative of the victims, determined to bring the perpetrators of history's greatest crime to justice."

German President Horst Köhler said Wiesenthal's life work had nothing to do with revenge, but with justice.

Real Jewish hero

The director of the Wiesenthal Center in Jerusalem, Ephraim Zuroff, described him as a "real Jewish hero" and praised those continuing to work to bring war criminals to justice.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Weisenthal Center, described how "the world was busy with the cold war and Jewish leaders were saying it's time to forgive and forget, but he knew his mission."

"I think he gave a tremendous gift to younger generations of Germans and Austrians by focusing on and helping them to focus on personal responsibility and convicting the criminals, understanding what took place and not giving the Mark of Cain to the German nation," he added.

Rabbi Cooper says Wiesenthal's legacy is even broader in terms of preventing future atrocities. "Wiesenthal would always say, 'We don't know as we speak if tomorrow's mass murderers aren't already born and aren't looking to see how the civilized world deals with the previous crimes.'"

"If we speak today about situations like Rwanda and Darfur -- none of that would have taken place without the courageous and obstinate leadership of Simon Wiesenthal," said Rabbi Cooper.