Elie wiesel holocaust concentration camps
Elie Wiesel
Romanian-born American writer and political activist (1928–2016)
Elie Wiesel | |
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Wiesel in 1996 | |
| Born | Eliezer Wiesel (1928-09-30)September 30, 1928 Sighet, Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | July 2, 2016(2016-07-02) (aged 87) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Sharon Gardens Cemetery, Valhalla, NY, U.S. |
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| Citizenship | |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Subjects | |
| Notable works | Night (1960) |
| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Elisha |
Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwaldconcentration camps.
In his political activities Wiesel became a regular speaker on the subject of the Holocaust and remained a strong defender of human rights during his lifetime. He also advocated for victims of oppression including Soviet and Ethiopian Jews, the apartheid in South Africa, the Bosnian genocide, Sudan, the Kurds and the Armenian genocide, Argentina's Desaparecidos or Nicaragua's Miskito people. He was a strong supporter of the state of Israel and was personally close to Benjamin Netanyahu.
He was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiesel received awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
Early life
Eliezer Wiesel was born in Sighet (now S
Elie Wiesel Timeline and World Events: 1928–1951
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Romania 1933, Sighet Marmatiei indicated
- Sighet
Prewar view of the main market square in the Transylvanian town of Sighet, Romania.
- Sighet
Prewar view of the Transylvanian town of Sighet, Romania.
- Sighet
Prewar view of the Transylvanian town of Sighet, Romania.
- Leaders of the Sighet Jewish community
Leaders of the Sighet Jewish community. Those pictured include Mr. Hershkovich (seated far left), Mr. Klein (seated second from left), Mr. Yacobovich (standing far right), and Mr. Jahan (standing second row, right). Photograph taken ca. 1928–1930.
Deportations from Hungarian ghettos to Auschwitz
- Damaged synagogue in Sighet
View of the burned-out Malbish Arimim synagogue on Teglash Street in Sighet. This photograph was taken after the deportation of the Jewish population. May 1944.
Major camps in Greater Germany, Buchenwald indicated
- Former prisoners of the "little camp" in Buchenwald
Former prisoners of the "little camp" in Buchenwald stare out from the wooden bunks in which they slept three to a "bed." Elie Wiesel is pictured in the second row of bunks, seventh from the left, next to the vertical beam. Abraham Hipler is pictured in the second row, fourth from the left. The man on the third bunk from the bottom, third from the left, is Ignacz (Isaac) Berkovicz. [He has also been identified as Abraham Baruch.] Michael Nikolas Gruner, originally from Hungary, is pictured on the bottom left corner. Perry Shulman from Klimitov, Poland is on the top bunk, second from the left (looking up). Buchenwald, Germany, April 16, 1945.
This image is also among the commonly reproduced and distributed, and often extremely graphic, images of liberation. These photographs provided powerful documentation of the crimes of the Nazi era.
- Child survivors of Buchenwald
Children march out of Buchenwald to a nearby Amer
Elie Wiesel
As a boy, Elie Wiesel survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald camps. As an adult, he dedicated himself to commemorating the Holocaust and to ensuring its lessons were learnt. He was an acclaimed author and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He died on 2 July 2016, aged 87.
The survivors had every reason to despair of society; they did not. They opted to work for humankind, not against it.
You can download the PDF version of Elie Wiesel’s life story here
Elie Wiesel’s easy to read life story
Elie Wiesel’s bilingual life story
Eliezer ‘Elie’ Wiesel was born in 1928 in the small Romanian town of Sighet. He was the third of four children and the only son. He was 15 when, in spring 1944, German troops occupied Sighet. Soon after, he was moved with the rest of his family into one of the two ghettos created in the town. When both ghettos were liquidated the entire Jewish population of Sighet was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Wiesel later wrote about the conditions in the transport: ‘Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down. We decided to take turns sitting. …After two days of travel, thirst became intolerable, as did the heat.’ He recalled his arrival Auschwitz-Birkenau: ‘We stared at the flames in the darkness. A wretched stench floated in the air. Abruptly, our doors opened. Strange-looking creatures, dressed in striped jackets and black pants, jumped in to the wagon.’
At the selection ramp of Birkenau, Wiesel was separated from his mother and sisters. This was the last time he ever saw his mother and his younger sister, Tzipora: ‘”Men to the left! Women to the right!” Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight simple, short words. Yet that was the moment when I left my mother.’ On the advice of an existing inmate, Wiesel lied about his age, claiming to be 18, to avoid being selected for extermination.
Decades later, Wiesel recorded his feeling
- Elie wiesel education
- Elie wiesel nationality
Elie Wiesel
Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.
Never shall I forget that smoke.
Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.
Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.
Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.
Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.
Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.
—Excerpt from Night by Elie Wiesel1Who was Elie Wiesel?
Photo
Elie Wiesel speaks at a conference (Photo)
Elie Wiesel speaks at the Faith in Humankind conference, held before the opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, on September 18–19, 1984, in Washington, DC.
Credits:- US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) was one of the most famous survivors of the Holocaust and a world-renowned author and champion of human rights. His first book, Night, recounts his suffering as a teenager at Auschwitz and has become a classic of Holocaust literature. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928, in Sighet, Transylvania (Romania, from 1940–1945 part of Hungary). In 1944, he and his family were deported to Auschwitz. Only he and two of his three sisters survived the Holocaust.
After World War II, Wiesel became a journalist, prolific author, professor, and human rights activist. He was Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City University of New York (1972–1976). In 1976, he became the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, where he also held the title of University Professor. During the 1982–83 academic year, Wiesel was the first Henry Luce Visiting Scholar in the Humanities an