Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel

“…to remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all…” Elie Wiesel a remarkable man who dedicated his life to making sure no one ever forgets the tragedy that happened to the Jews. Born in 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania; a small town in Romania; a town that had been a sanctuary for Jews since they were driven south out of the Ukraine in 1640. The third of four children, Wiesel was the only son born to his parents Shlomo and Sarah Feig. Wiesel experienced the Holocaust when he was between the age of twelve and sixteen. Wiesel is a very inspirational man because he survived and remained sane through one of the worst periods in history, living to share his experiences and encourage a greater good. Elie Wiesel is a very notable person, telling his story in order to make people more appreciative of what they have.

Elie Wiesel as a boy. (www.google/images.com)

Elie went to four different concentration camps. At the first camp the men and women were forced to parade in separate lines. He watched his two sisters and mother walk off in the line that would enter the showers “Gas Chambers”; knowing he would never see them again. The anguish he must have felt will never leave his mind. Elie and his father were transported to Auschwitz in a cattle car. They were treated worse than cattle; crammed into conditions that even animals could barely survive. The cattle car was so packed with people who died along the way. People cried, urinated, starved. The Nazis would stop the train from time to time to throw out the dead bodies to get rid of the stink. The Jews were forced to dig holes and throw their friends and relatives into them. Most people would just want die themselves after experiencing what he went through; or bury it in the deepest parts of their mind. Wiesel is a hero because he was brave enough to tell his story and commit it to writing. Wiesel’s commitment to writing about the horrors shows his bravery because it is not easy to tell the world the things you want to forget. Elie Wiesel experienced many horrible things in his lifetime; he survived the Holocaust and The Great Depression. This must have taken a great deal of courage. Elie Wiesel is a very brave person. He was only fifteen when he and his family were taken to the death camps and also lost his father, mother, and sister. Even after losing his mother, father, and sister he had the courage to share his experiences with the world so we can really know what happened during the Holocaust. He has devoted his life to bearing his witness.

Wiesel leaving Buchenwald. (www.google/images.com)

Elie Wiesel is very well known and respected man. He is like a walking history book. In 1978 President Jimmy Carter appointed Elie Wiesel as Chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. (“Remember”) Elie Wiesel was offered this position because he was a living survivor from the Holocaust who was willing to share his story which took great courage. The Holocaust was a mass murder of thousands of gypsies and Jews. This mass killing was all the creation of a man called Adolf Hitler. Elie Wiesel experienced this kind of cruelty and visited many concentration camps. Elie Wiesel overcame and went through many hardships in his life but still continues to show his courage by telling his story and writing about his experiences. Elie Wiesel is very intelligent. He has written several books and won the Nobel Peace Prize and been appointed Chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust.

Wiesel (www.google/images.com)

In 1980, Wiesel, became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.(“Remember”) Elie Wiesel just wanted people to have compassion for one another; achieving this through telling his story of a time when the world could have really used some and his written works have inspired people. Elie was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of victims everywhere. Elie’s words and his books express his need for people to feel compassion for their fellow human beings. Elie Wiesel, known as “the Poet of the Holocaust” to offer testimony about the horror of that time to a world that often seems to prefer to forget. His books are now read in school when children learn about the Holocaust. He considers his writing “not a profession, but an occupation, a duty”. Elie Wiesel is a very notable man. He has dedicated his life to informing people about the horrific time of the holocaust and keeping the spirits alive of all those who lost their lives during this time. Elie Wiesel possesses many traits of a hero; he is courageous, brave, intelligent, and caring. Wiesel has written about forty works dealing with Judaism, the Holocaust, and the moral responsibility of all people to fight hatred, racism and genocide. Elie Wiesel had one of the hardest life’s losing more than half his family been shipped from one death camp to the next but he still continues to keep the names of these good people who suffered alive and keep their lives remembered. “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 that smoke. Never shall I forget the faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.”(Elie Wiesel)

One of Wiesel's most famous books. (www.gooogle/images.com)

Danks, Carol. “Using the Literature of Elie Wiesel and Selected Poetry to Teach the Holocaust in the Secondary School History Classroom.” The Social Studies. v78 . n3 (may-June 1996): p101(5). Student Resource Center – Gold. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 30 Mar. 2011

Fine, Ellen S.”Criticism by Ellen S. Fine.”DISCovering Authors.Detroit:Gale, 2003. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 28 Mar. 2011.

“Remember.” Equality. The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, 3/28/11. Web. 31 Mar 2011. http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/

“Wiesel,Elie (1928-).”UXL Biographies. Online ed. Detroit: UXL, 2003.Student Resource Center-Gold. Gale. DEL NORTE HIGH SCHOOL. 30 Mar.2011