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8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia Elie Wiesel From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE (/ˈɛli viˈzɛl/, Yiddish: Elie Wiesel Elyezer KBE ,אליעזר ויזל Vizel;[2][3] September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work Wiesel at the 2012 Time 100 based on his experiences Born Eliezer Wiesel as a prisoner in the September 30, 1928 Auschwitz and Sighet, Kingdom of Romania Buchenwald concentration Died [4] July 2, 2016 (aged 87) camps. Manhattan, New York, U.S. Along with writing, he Occupation Author, professor, activist was a professor of the Nationality American humanities at Boston Alma mater University of Paris University, which created Subjects The Holocaust, religion, philosophy the Elie Wiesel Center for Notable Night (1960) Jewish Studies in his works honor. He was involved Notable Nobel Peace Prize (1986) with Jewish causes, and awards Presidential Medal of Freedom helped establish the United States Holocaust Congressional Gold Medal Memorial Museum in Grand Officer of the Order of the Star https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel 1/25 8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia Washington, D.C. In his of Romania political activities he also Legion of Honour campaigned for victims of Honorary Knighthood oppression in places like Spouse Marion Erster Rose South Africa and (m. 1969–2016; his death)[1] Nicaragua and genocide in Children 1 Sudan. He publicly condemned the 1915 Armenian Genocide and remained a strong defender of human rights during his lifetime. He was described as "the most important Jew in America" by the Los Angeles Times.[5] Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, at which time the Norwegian Nobel Committee called him a "messenger to mankind," stating that through his struggle to come to terms with "his own personal experience of total humiliation and of the utter contempt for humanity shown in Hitler's death camps", as well as his "practical work in the cause of peace", Wiesel had delivered a message "of peace, atonement and human dignity" to humanity.[6] He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active throughout his life.[7][8] Contents 1 Early life 2 Imprisoned and orphaned during the Holocaust 3 Post-war career as writer 3.1 France 3.2 United States 4 Political activism 5 Teaching 6 Personal life 7 Death 8 Awards and honors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel 2/25 8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia 8.1 Honorary degrees 9 Bibliography 10 See also 11 Notes 12 References 13 Other books 14 External links Early life Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet (now Sighetu Marmației), Maramureș in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.[9] His parents were Sarah Feig and Shlomo Wiesel. At home, Wiesel's family spoke Yiddish most of the time, but also German, Hungarian, and Romanian.[10][11] Wiesel's mother, Sarah, was the daughter of The house in which Wiesel was born Dodye Feig, a celebrated Vizhnitz Hasid and farmer from a nearby village. Dodye was active and trusted within the community. Wiesel's father, Shlomo, instilled a strong sense of humanism in his son, encouraging him to learn Hebrew and to read literature, whereas his mother encouraged him to study the Torah. Wiesel has said his father represented reason while his mother Sarah promoted faith.[12] Wiesel was instructed that his genealogy traced back to Rabbi Schlomo, son of Yitzhak, and was a descendant of Rabbi Yeshayahu ben Abraham Horovitz ha-Levi, an author.[13] Wiesel had three siblings—older sisters Beatrice and Hilda, and younger sister, Tzipora. Beatrice and Hilda survived the war and were reunited with Wiesel at a French orphanage. They eventually emigrated to North America, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel 3/25 8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia with Beatrice moving to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Tzipora, Shlomo, and Sarah did not survive the Holocaust. Imprisoned and orphaned during the Holocaust In March 1944, Germany occupied Hungary which extended the Holocaust into that country.[a] Wiesel was 15, and he with his family, along with the rest of the town's Jewish population, were placed in one of the two confinement ghettos set up in Máramarossziget (Sighet), the town where he had been born and raised. In May 1944, the Hungarian authorities, Buchenwald concentration camp, photo taken April 16, 1945, five days after under German pressure, began to deport the liberation of the camp. Wiesel is in the Jewish community to the Auschwitz second row from the bottom, seventh from the left, next to the bunk post.[14] concentration camp, where up to 90 percent of the people were exterminated on arrival.[15] Immediately after they were sent to Auschwitz, his mother and his younger sister were murdered.[15] Wiesel and his father were selected to perform labor so long as they remained able-bodied, after which they were to be killed in the gas chambers. Wiesel and his father were later deported to the concentration camp at Buchenwald. Until that transfer, he admitted to Oprah Winfrey, his primary motivation for trying to survive Auschwitz was knowing that his father was still alive: "I knew that if I died, he would die."[16] After they were taken to Buchenwald, his father died before the camp was liberated.[15] In Night,[17] Wiesel recalled the shame he felt when he heard his father being beaten and was unable to help.[15][18] Wiesel was tattooed with inmate number "A-7713" on his left arm.[19][20] The camp was liberated by the U.S. Third Army on April 11, 1945, when they were just prepared to be evacuated from Buchenwald.[21] Post-war career as writer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel 4/25 8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia France After World War II ended and Wiesel was freed, he joined a transport of 1,000 child survivors of Buchenwald to Ecouis, France, where the Œuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE) had set up a rehabilitation center. Wiesel subsequently joined a smaller group of 90 to 100 boys from Orthodox homes who wanted kosher facilities and a higher level of religious observance; they were cared for in a home in Ambloy under the directorship of Judith Hemmendinger. This home was subsequently moved to Taverny and operated until 1947.[22][23] Afterwards Wiesel traveled to Paris where he learned French and studied literature, philosophy and psychology at the Sorbonne.[15] He heard lectures by philosopher Martin Buber and existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre and he spent his evenings reading works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Franz Kafka, and Thomas Mann.[24] By the time he was 19, he had begun working as a journalist, writing in French, while also teaching Hebrew and working as a choirmaster.[25] He wrote for Israeli and French newspapers, including Tsien in Kamf (in Yiddish).[24] In 1946, after learning of the Irgun's bombing of the King David Hotel, Wiesel made an unsuccessful attempt to join the underground Zionist movement. In 1948, he translated articles from Hebrew into Yiddish for Irgun periodicals, but never became a member of the organization.[26] In 1949 he traveled to Israel as a correspondent for the French newspaper L'arche. He then was hired as Paris correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, subsequently becoming its roaming international correspondent.[27] For ten years after the war, Excerpt from Night Wiesel refused Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which to write about or has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel 5/25 8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia discuss his shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I experiences saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. during the Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which Holocaust. He deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall began to I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul reconsider his and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these decision after a things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never. meeting with the [28] French author Elie Wiesel, from Night. François Mauriac, the 1952 Nobel Laureate in Literature who eventually became Wiesel's close friend. Mauriac was a devout Christian who had fought in the French Resistance during the war. He compared Wiesel to "Lazarus rising from the dead," and saw from Wiesel's tormented eyes, "the death of God in the soul of a child."[29][30] Mauriac persuaded him to begin writing about his harrowing experiences.[24] Wiesel first wrote the 900-page memoir Un di velt hot geshvign (And the World Remained Silent) in Yiddish, which was published in abridged form in Buenos Aires.[31] Wiesel rewrote a shortened version of the manuscript in French, La Nuit, in 1955. It was translated into English as Night in 1960.[32] The book sold few copies after its publication, but still attracted interest from reviewers, leading to television interviews with Wiesel and meetings with literary figures such as Saul Bellow. After its increased popularity, Night was eventually translated into 30 languages with ten million copies sold in the United States. At one point film director Orson Welles wanted to make it into a feature film, but Wiesel refused, feeling that his memoir would lose its meaning if it were told without the silences in between his words.[33] Oprah Winfrey made it a spotlight selection for her book club in 2006.[15] United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel 6/25 8/16/2017 Elie Wiesel - Wikipedia In 1955, Wiesel moved to New York as foreign correspondent for the Israel daily, Yediot Ahronot.[27] In 1969, he married Marion Erster Rose, who was from Austria, who also translated many of his books.[27] They had one son, Shlomo Elisha Wiesel, named after Wiesel’s father.[27][34] In the U.S., he went on to write over 40 books, most of them non-fiction Holocaust literature, and novels.