The Story of Elie Wiesel


On September 30th,1928 Elizer Wiesel was born in Sighet Transylvania. Today Transyalvania is called Romania. Elie led a presentative life in the small town of Sighet. Most of his life revolved around his family, his religious study, God and his community. Elie lived through Aschwitz, Buchenwald and Gleiwitz. Wiesel spent a few years in an orphanage until 1945. in 1948 Elie went to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. Some of his subjests were literature, philosophy, and psychology. Elie got involved in writing for the French newspaper L'Arche.
Francois Mauriac inspired Wiesel to write about the concentration camps and the Holocaust. Elie ended up writing over 30 books. The first book Elie wrote was in 1954. It was called And the World Remained Silent. Elie was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement. Unfortunaltly he was hit by a taxicab in New York City. Wiesel was in a wheel chair for almost a year. During the time he was in the wheelchair he decided to become a U.S. citizen. Elie was appointed president's Commission to the Holocaust. The President's Commission made an American Memorial to the people who sied in the Holocaust. Elie was happily awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
The President's Commission made a museum honoring the Jews who were killed by Hitler and the Nazi's. Elie says that the reason the museum was made was denying the Nazis a pothumous victory, honoring the victims wish to tell and protecting the humanity from the evil Nazis. All Jews were victims of the Holocaust. The commission is made up of 57 people who decide where to divide the museums into which area. The groups are: memorial, museum, education, research, comemoration and actions to make sure that the problems don't reaccure. The commission is made up of Senators, Rabbis, Christians, Professors, judges, Congressmen, Priests, Jews, men and women. Wiesel was chairman of the commitee in 1986.
Wiesels information was definitley noteworthy. Elie dedicated the later part of his life to the establishment of the second-generation and that the memory and action be carried on. Wiesel said," Let us remember, let us remember the heroes of Warsaw, the martyrs of Treblinka, the children of Auschwitz. They fought alone, they suffered alone, they lived alone, but they did not die alone, for something in all of us died with them."
Elie Wiesel was sent to Auschwitz in 1944. his father died in Buchenwald in January 1945. In April 1945 Elie was liberated from Auschwitz. He began to be a journalist in 1948. Elizer went back to his hometown of Sighet in 1964. In that same year he went to Russia for his first time. In 1966 Elie published his book Jews of Silence. He also published memoirs in 1995.
In Elie's book, Night, he wrote: "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into smoke beneath a silent blue sky. never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget those that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as god himself. Never."
Elie Wiesel had two older sisters and one younger sister named Tzipora. Romania was the country that was also claimed by Hungary. When Elie was growing up he spoke Yiddish at home and Hungarian, Romanian, and German in public. When he was going to school he learned how to speak Hebrew. His mother's family was part of Hasidic sect of Judaism. Elie loved the mysticism and folk tales of the sect. He devoted himself to religious and study of modern Hebrew.
Early in WWII Sighet was not deeply effected. Sighet was controlled by Hungary instead of Romania. The Jews thought they were safe from persecution in Sighet while Jews in Germany and Poland were really suffering. The Jews were sent to camps in Poland. Elie and his father were seperated from his mother and sisters. Elie was 15 at the time. The next year he was sent to Buna, Gleiwitz, and Buchenwald. Elie's father died at Buchenwald from dysentery, starvation, exposure, and exhaustion. After World War II Elie found out that his mother and his younger sister died in the gas chambers.
Elie supported himself as a choirmaster and taught Hebrew. He wrote for the Israeli Yediot Archonot. Wiesel vowed never to write about his experiences of the Holocaust, but he broke that vow when he met Francois Mauriac. Mauriac convinced Elie to write about the Holocaust and he did over 30 times. Elie ended up writing a book called And the World Remained Silent. And the World Remained Silent is a 900-page volume about the Holocaust and his experiences in the concentration camps. When Elie originally wrote the book it was in Yiddish so it had to be republished in Buenos Aires in English. Two years after Elie decided to write a book called Night. Night was a 127-page volume that was one of Elie's more popular books. Some of the novels Elie wrote include: The Gates of the Forest, The Testament, The Oath, and The Fifth Son. Some of the plays he wrote were called Zalmen and The Madness of God and the Trial of God. Legends of our Time, One Generation after and A Jew Today were some of the essays and short stories that Elie wrote.
Elie loved writing Hasidic tales and Biblical stories. His book was translated in English in 1995 and called All Rivers Run to the Sea. Elie books on the Holocaust helped him with an international reputation. Elie became involved in politics after he found out about the persecution of Jews in the USSR. Elie first traveled to the USSR in 1965. He described what he saw in th book The Jews of Silence. Today Elie still pleads for the oppressed people in the Soviet Union, South Africa, Vietnam, Biafra, and Bangladesh. Elie has lectured at colleges around the United States and has been the Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University since 1976.
Elie Wiesel was taken to concentration camps in Czechoslavakia and Germany at the age of 14. Elie almost lost his foot to the cold, but luckily he had surgery on it and didn't. His father very involved in their community. Unfortunately Elie's father was killed by an SS officer when the officer shattered his skull with a truncheon. The last thing Elie's father ever said was "Elizer". The Wiesel family had a servant named Martha. Martha offered to hide them, but the Wiesel family refused to hide.
Madame Schater was on the same train car as Elie on their way being deported to Auschwitz. She was serarated from her husband and two older son. Madame Schater lost her mind and went crazy on the train. She screamed out hysterically and some men beat her trying to get her to be quiet.
Dr. Mengele was the one who decides who goes to the gas chambers. Elie saw him at Birkenau and Buna. Stein of Antwerp was Elie's cousin's husband. He saw Elie and his father at Auschwitz and asked how they were doing. Elie's father lied and said that everything was fine, but it wasn't. Jouliek was a violinist at Buna. Elie woke up to find him lying him on top of him playing Beethoven. The foreman of the music block beat Elie's father to get a gold crown. Some of Elie's friend's names at Buna were Yosi and Tibi. Sometimes a boy named Alphonse would give them extra soup whenever he could. He was another one of Elie's friends. Zalmen was one of Elie's friends that worked at the Buna warehouse. Zalmen got a stomach cramp and was on his way to the bathroom when he got trampled. Mier Katz saved Elie's life when someone tries to strangle him on the train to Buchenwald. Katz died when he gave up trying to fight the camps. Now Elie lives in New York with his wife named Marion and his named Elisha.