Simon Wiesenthal Coinage (US or Otherwise)

Who would support a commemorative coin depicting 'Famed' Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal? Some associate his actions right up there with the other Great Freedom Fighters over the the past two millennia, Spartacus, Vercingetorix, Boudiccia, Washington, King, Lincoln, Wallace, etc...

Please chime in with your comments...

Take Care
Ben

 

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OOPS, lest we forget Caratacus and Crazy Horse...

 

I would strongly support such an idea.

 

i will withhold my vote for now. I am unsure as to if i would want to see such a coin or not. i am surprised that such an idea would generate interest however. With so many people saying the Nazi's did not do anythign wrong ie. the holocaust. Those same people would not be very agreeable to a coin depicting a person such as this. And then, i could be wrong. Dont get me wrong, i DO believe the Nazi's did some horrible things, including the Holocaust. i also believe however, anyone who went to great lengths to bring those same men to justice does deserve a medal! so maybe a coin is not a bad idea.....

 

Was he an American citizen? If not, I would think that there must be someone from our own nation's history that deserves a commem before a person from someplace else gets one.

 

Yes I would support it, and as Ben says US or Otherwise

 

I don't think so, but I'm not sure. He lived out his days in Vienna.

For those interested in knowing more, here's an interesting piece -
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Wiesenthal.html

 

I say why not? Its not like anyone ever liked the Nazi's. lol

 

As far as I know, Wiesenthal was Austrian. So if people who were not US citizens cannot be commemorated on US coins, that would probably rule him out unless he had dual citizenship. Basically I think a Simon Wiesenthal commem would be a good idea. The only (minor) problem I would have is that he died less than three years ago. In general I think the period of time between somebody's passing and being commemorated on a coin should be a little longer.

Christian

 

I would think a commemorative would be a little much, I am not saying that i dont support his actions but come on now, I can think of quite a few others that have changed history for the better that would be more suited for a coin. JMO

 

who is laugh yet sorry if that was bad

 

Ah, but Columbus and Isabella were around at a time when there was no such thing as the US. And La Fayette is an Honorary Citizen of the United States, right? But I guess I got your point ...

Christian

 

Makes sense. I see your point.

 

Good point.

Was Sacajawea a US citizen ? How about her papoose ? They're on business strike coinage.

1804... that land had been purchased, and I suppose it's legal designation was "territory". Louisiana Territory. I don't know what that meant as far as status of folks living there.

 

Of course he should be on a US commem. Look at all the other comm ems and tell me that they are depicting really important events in history or people representing some memorial event or such. Simon W. hunted down Nazi mass murderers and brought them to justice for the crimes against humanity.

Bruce

 

Native Americans were not considered to be native born US citizens until 1924... theoretically Sacagawea could have been naturalized, but I doubt she was. So no.

Anyway there clearly isn't a restriction about putting non-US citizens on US coins... however, I think there's a more important point here:

I don't think his citizenship status is an issue, but I fully agree with your second point, that someone significant from our nation's history should be honored instead... Wisenthal certaintly deserves to be honored, but US commemorative coins should be reserved for people and events significant to US history and culture specifically... brings me to my main point here...

OK, I'll bite, some of the recent commems:

2008 Bald Eagle: Commemorates the bald eagle as a national symbol, 35th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, removal of the bald eagle from the endangered list

2007 Little Rock: Commemorates the 50th anniversary of the admission of black students to Little Rock High School, ending segregation

2007 Jamestown: 400th anniversary of the first British colonoy in North America

2006 Ben Franklin: A pretty significant historic figure, I think.

I could go on, but it seems pretty clear that commemoratives are doing a good job of commemorating people and events that are significant to the United States. Now Simon Wisenthal is certaintly deserving of honors for what he did, but how is he especially significant in the context of United States history or culture? We are talking US coins here after all. I'd say he deserves perhaps a commemorative medal but I wouldn't go so far as saying he should be on a US commemorative coin. Not trying to be US-centric or anything but it's only fair that a country's commemorative coinage stick to people and events that are significant to that country and not just the world at large.

Now I'm assuming the orginal question is asking whether Wisenthal should be commemorated on a US coin... to which I said no... but if Israel or Austria or some country to which Wisenthal was specifically signifcant to wants to honor him on their coinage, that I'd fully support.

 

Well, the topic title says "Simon Wiesenthal Coinage (US or Otherwise)", and I suppose that the last word does imply other countries. In Austria he will not be commemorated on a coin this year, but I don't think that is because they would not want to do it. There is the Vienna Wiesenthal Institute, and the city also named a street after him. A coin may come later, once a little more time has passed since he died.

What Wiesenthal did, I think, he did not do for one country only. So it would make sense for various countries to honor him. Now whether that means a coin or not is less important than not forgetting what he did, and why he did it.

Christian

 

Interesting points, guys. I appreciate it, troodon and Christian. Well thought out.

This really struck me :

The whole Weisenthal thing is so vital in world history that any nation should consider themselves honored to honor him.

 

You're right, what he did was not for one country only. But for me that is a reason NOT to commemorate him on a coin, because a country's coinage should limit itself to commemorating what's important to that country specifically. I'm not saying that what Wisenthal did is not worth of being honored; just that I don't think a commemorative coin is an appropriate way to go about doing it. Everyone's entitled to their opinion of course, and that is mine. I think that if he is to be honored that a commemorative coin of any one given country is too narrow in scope considering his contribution to history doesn't relate solely to one specific country, and that's why I voted "no" here. I'm sure there's many ways of honoring and commemorating him that wouldn't be tied to a single specific country the way a commemorative coin would be.