Simon Wiesenthal Exhibit Online

According to an entry on its blog, the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum has launched a new online exhibit, “Hunting for Wiesenthals: Postmarks from the Simon Wiesenthal Collection.”

It goes on to say, "This unique online exhibit explores postmarks from towns in Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Germany. The postmarks are a part of Wiesenthal’s larger stamp collection, which he started in the late 1940s to occupy himself at night when he couldn’t sleep. The exhibit also features Wiesenthal’s own collecting tools, which were donated to the Postal Museum by his family.

"The memory of Wiesenthal’s lasting enthusiasm for stamp collecting is also a legacy for philatelists, as his interest in stamp collecting was well known during his lifetime and was a peaceful pursuit to contrast the violence he documented during the day."

On June 14, 2010, Isreal and Austria jointly issued a stamp issue honoring Simon Wiesenthal (shown above). Wiesenthal is portrayed in a frame in the form of the Star of David with text in both German and Hebrew.

Click here to view the exhibit.