"He just took the job. It was a job no one else wanted."

Years ago my grandmother told me that only the lucky grow old. I suspect that Simon Wiesenthal would agree with her. The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Simon Wiesenthal has died.

Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who helped track down numerous Nazi war criminals following World War II then spent the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people, died Tuesday at the age of 96. Wiesenthal died in his sleep at his home in Vienna, Austria, according to Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. "Simon Wiesenthal was the conscience of the Holocaust," Rabbi Marvin Hier said.

According to Hier, "When the Holocaust ended in 1945 and the whole world went home to forget, he alone remained behind to remember. He did not forget. He became the permanent representative of the victims, determined to bring the perpetrators of the history's greatest crime to justice."

"There was no press conference and no president or Prime Minister or world leader announced his appointment. He just took the job. It was a job no one else wanted," he concluded.

"For years, he was all by himself. He was even forced to close the center several times in the past because he didn't have money. He once received a tip that Eichman was in Argentina but was unable to afford the trip at the time, " Rabbi Meir told CNN.