Elie Wiesel
| Famous as | Writer & Author |
| Born on | 30 September 1928 |
| Born in | Sighet, Romania |
| Nationality | Romania |
| Works & Achievements | Teaching of Humanity; Nobel Peace Prize (1986) |
Childhood
Elie Wiesel was born on 30 September 1928 in the town of Sighet,
Transylvania, now a part of Romania. His father Shlomo Wiesel was an orthodox Jew
and had a grocery store while Sarah, his mother, was a daughter of a
farmer. Growing up in a small village in Romania, Elie’s world revolved
around family, religious study, community and God. Shlomo instilled a
strong sense of humanism in his son, encouraging him to learn Modern
Hebrew and to read literature, whereas his mother encouraged him to
study Torah and Kabbalah. Elie grew up speaking Yiddish at home, and
Hungarian, Romanian, and German outside.
Days in Death Camps
In 1944, during World War II, Elie, with his family and other Jews
of the area, were deported to the German concentration and extermination
camps in Poland. Elie and his father were separated from his mother and
younger sister and taken to Auschwitz. They were forced to work under
appalling conditions and shuffled between concentration camps. On
January 29, 1945, Wiesel's father died after suffering from dysentery, and starvation.
End of Holocaust
After the liberation of the camps in April 1945, Wiesel spent a few
years in a French orphanage where he was reunited with his older
sisters, Hilda and Bea. Like many survivors, Wiesel could not find the
words to describe his experiences and even after ten years of the war,
Wiesel refused to write about or discuss his experiences during the
Holocaust. In 1948, Elie began to study literature, philosophy, and
psychology at the Sorbonne in Paris. He gradually became involved in
journalistic work with the French newspaper L'arche. He wrote for Israeli and French newspapers, including Tsien in Kamf. It was on the urging of Catholic
writer Francois Mauriac, the 1952 Nobel Laureate in Literature, that
Elie wrote about his experiences in the death camps. The result was his
internationally acclaimed memoir And the World Remained Silent, in
Yiddish, and La Nuit or Night in French.
Elie in the USA
In 1956, Elie Wiesel was hit by a taxicab in New York and confined
to a wheel chair for almost a year. Unable to renew the French
documents, which had allowed him to travel as a "stateless" person, Elie
successfully applied for American citizenship. After recovering from
his injuries, Elie continued to live in New York as a feature writer for
a Yiddish-language newspaper called “The Jewish Daily Forward”. In the
US, Wiesel wrote over forty books, including both fiction and
non-fiction, and won many literary prizes. His novels include L'Aube
(Dawn) and Le Jour (The Accident), which are semi-autobiographical works
dealing with Holocaust survivors. In La Ville de la Chance (The Town
beyond the Wall), Wiesel imagines returning to his hometown, which he
did only after the novel was published.
In 1965, Elie first traveled to the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) and reported on his travels in The Jews of Silence.
Elie skillfully illustrated the Six-day war between Israel and the Arab
countries in English as “A Beggar In Jerusalem.”
Political Activism
As a political activist, Wiesel first traveled to the USSR in
1965 and described the situation he observed in the volume called The
Jews of Silence. He has continued to plead on the behalf of oppressed
people in the Soviet Union, South Africa,
Vietnam, Biafra, and Bangladesh. Elie Wiesel also raised concern for
the victims of the Kurds and Darfur, Sudan. In September 2006, Wiesel
appeared before the United Nations Security Council with actor George
Clooney to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Wiesel Commission
The Romanian government had formed a commission originally
named “International Commission for the Study of the Holocaust in
Romania”. The purpose was to research and write a report on the
involvement of the Romanian wartime regime in atrocities against Jews
and other groups during the Holocaust. The government appointed Elie
Wiesel as its honorary chairman. The International Commission for the
Study of the Holocaust released its report in 2004 and the Romanian
government reportedly accepted the findings of the report. The
commission became known the Wiesel Commission in honor of his
leadership.
Elie Wiesel – A Professor
Teaching has always been central to Elie Wiesel’s work. Since 1976,
he has been the Professor of Humanities at Boston University. He is
also a member of the Faculty in the Department of Religion as well as
the Department of Philosophy, there. Previously, he served as
Distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City University of New
York (1972-76) and the first Henry Luce Visiting Scholar in Humanities
and Social Thought at Yale University. Wiesel has also been a visiting
scholar at the Yale University.
Controversies
On February 1, 2007, a twenty-two year old boy named Eric Hunt tried to drag Wiesel in a San Francisco hotel. The boy, reportedly a “Holocaust Denier” was later arrested and convicted. Hunt was sentenced to two years but was given credit for time served and good behavior and was released on probation and ordered to undergo psychological treatment.
In an editorial in “The Nation”, British author
and journalist Christopher Hitchens once condemned Wiesel's past support
for the Palestinian Jewish militant group and his questionable views on
the causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodus. Wiesel also had a public dispute with late Simon Wiesenthal over the latter’s efforts to bring attention to the plight of the non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Awards
Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for
speaking out against violence, repression, and racism. He has also been
honored with numerous prizes including “The Congressional Gold Medal” in
1985 and “The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence”.
In 1996, Elie and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and
Letters. Wiesel started the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and
served as chairperson of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council) from 1978
to 1986. On November 30, 2006 Wiesel received an honorary knighthood in
London in recognition of his work towards raising Holocaust education in
the United Kingdom. He is also the Founding President of the Paris
based Universal Academy of Cultures. Elie Wiesel has received over
one-hundred honorary degrees from institutions of higher learning.
Following are the “Selected Works” of great Elie Wiesel:
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Timeline: |
1928, September 30: Birth of Elie Wiesel at Sighet, now Romania
1944: During the Second World War, all the Jews from the region were deported to concentration camps in Poland.
1945: January 29: His father Shlomo died of starvation and dysentery
1945: April: Jews were liberated. Wiesel visited France
1956: Wiesel hit by a taxicab in New York
1965: Wiesel traveled to the USSR and shared his experiences in “The Jews of Silence”.
1972: Appointed professor of Humanity at City Unviersity of New York
1976: He joined Boston University as a professor of Humanity
1978: Chairperson of the US Holocaust Memorial Council
1985: He won the Congressional Gold Medal
1986: Received Nobel Peace Prize
2006: November 30: Received honorary “Knighthood” in London
2007: February 1: Wiesel was attacked by a young denier of Holocaust
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