Elie Wiesel: A Journey Through Education, Witness, and Humanity

Elie Wiesel, a name synonymous with Holocaust remembrance and human rights advocacy, embarked on a lifelong journey of education that shaped his profound literary contributions and unwavering commitment to justice. His experiences, rooted in a traditional Jewish upbringing and marked by the horrors of the Holocaust, fueled his intellectual pursuits and ultimately led him to become a distinguished professor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Early Religious Education in Sighet

Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in Sighet, Transylvania, a region with a complex history claimed by both Hungary and Romania. Growing up in the close-knit Jewish community of Sighet, Wiesel's early life centered on religious studies. He began learning classical Hebrew almost as soon as he could speak. He was the only son of Shlomo (a grocer) and Sarah (Feig) Wiesel. His life was deeply influenced by the mystical tradition and folk tales of the Hassidic sect of Judaism, to which his mother’s family belonged. While the family spoke Yiddish at home and conducted their grocery business in German, Hungarian, or Romanian as the occasion demanded, his father encouraged the boy to study the modern Hebrew language and concentrate on his secular studies.

Interrupted Studies and the Holocaust

The secure world of Wiesel’s childhood ended abruptly with the arrival of the Nazis in Sighet in 1944. The Jewish inhabitants of the village were deported en masse to concentration camps in Poland. In May 1944, the Nazis deported 15-year-old Wiesel and his family to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. The 15-year-old boy was separated from his mother and sister immediately on arrival in Auschwitz. He never saw them again. He managed to remain with his father for the next year as they were worked almost to death, starved, beaten, and shuttled from camp to camp on foot, or in open cattle cars, in driving snow, without food, proper shoes, or clothing. Wiesel survived Birkenau and later Auschwitz and Buna and Buchenwald. His mother and younger sister died at Auschwitz, while he and his father later were moved to another camp, Buchenwald, located in Germany. Wiesel’s father perished at Buchenwald just months before it was liberated by Allied troops in April 1945.

Post-War Education and Intellectual Development

After the war, the teenaged Wiesel found asylum in France, where he learned for the first time that his two older sisters had survived the war. Following the war, Wiesel spent time in a French orphanage. Wiesel mastered the French language and studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, University of Paris, from 1948-51, while supporting himself as a choir master and teacher of Hebrew.

Career as Foreign Correspondent

From 1949, Wiesel worked as a foreign correspondent at various times for Yedioth Ahronoth, Tel Aviv, Israel, L'Arche, Paris, France, and Jewish Daily Forward, New York, NY.

A Decade of Silence and the Urging to Write

For ten years, he observed a self-imposed vow of silence and wrote nothing about his wartime experience. In 1955, at the urging of the Catholic writer Francois Mauriac, he set down his memories in Yiddish, in a 900-page work entitled Un die welt hot geshvign (And the world kept silent). The book was first published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Wiesel compressed the work into a 127-page French adaptation, La Nuit (Night), but several years passed before he was able to find a publisher for the French or English versions of the work.

Transition to American Citizenship and Literary Recognition

In 1956, while he was in New York reporting on the United Nations, Elie Wiesel was struck by a taxi cab. His injuries confined him to a wheelchair for almost a year. Unable to renew the French document which had allowed him to travel as a “stateless” person, Wiesel applied successfully for American citizenship, becoming a citizen in 1963. Once he recovered, he remained in New York and became a feature writer for the Yiddish-language newspaper, The Jewish Daily Forward (Der forverts). Wiesel continued to write books in French, including the semi-autobiographical novels L’Aube (Dawn), and Le Jour (translated as The Accident). As these and other books brought Wiesel to the attention of readers and critics, translations of Night found an audience at last, and Wiesel became an unofficial spokesman for the survivors of the Holocaust.

Academic Appointments and Professorships

Wiesel's commitment to education extended beyond his formal studies. He held several distinguished academic positions throughout his career:

City College of the City University of New York: Distinguished Professor, 1972-76
Boston University: Andrew Mellon Professor in the Humanities, 1976-, Professor of Philosophy, 1988-
Whitney Humanities Center, Yale University: Henry Luce Visiting Scholar in Humanities and Social Thought, 1982-83
Florida International University, Miami: Distinguished Visiting Professor of Literature and Philosophy, 1982

Since 1976, Wiesel had been the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, where he also held the title of university professor. He was a member of the faculty in the Department of Religion as well as the Department of Philosophy. Professor Elie Wiesel taught lectures and classes at many universities around the country. For over 20 years, he led a winter term class at Eckerd College in St.

The Prolific Writer

Following its publication, Elie Wiesel wrote more than 55 books, including novels, plays, books of essays, biblical commentary and works on Jewish folklore and mysticism.

Notable Works

Un Di Velt Hot Geshvign (And the World Has Remained Silent)
La Nuit (Night)
L'Aube (Dawn)
Le Jour (The Accident)
The Jews of Silence: A Personal Report on Soviet Jewry
Zalmen; ou, la Folie de Dieu (Zalmen; or, The Madness of God)
Le Mendiant de Jerusalem (A Beggar in Jerusalem)
Souls on Fire: Portraits and Legends of Hasidic Masters
The Trial of God (As It Was Held on February 25, 1649, in Shamgorod): A Play in Three Acts
The Testament
The Fifth Son
All Rivers Run to the Sea: Memoirs

Human Rights Advocacy and Recognition

Wiesel's experiences during the Holocaust transformed him into a lifelong advocate for human rights. His words, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness,” are engraved in stone at the entrance to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He became an unofficial spokesman for the survivors of the Holocaust. At the same time, he took an increasing interest in the plight of persecuted Jews in the Soviet Union. In time, Wiesel was able to use his fame to plead for justice for oppressed peoples in the Soviet Union, South Africa, Vietnam, Biafra and Bangladesh.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed Elie Wiesel Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. In 1980 he became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. He was president of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, an organization he and his wife created to fight indifference, intolerance and injustice.

As his international fame grew, Wiesel spoke out on behalf of the victims of genocide and oppression all over the world, from Bosnia to Darfur. A devoted supporter of Israel, Elie Wiesel also defended the cause of Soviet Jews, Nicaragua’s Miskito Indians, Argentina’s desaparecidos, Cambodian refugees, the Kurds, victims of famine and genocide in Africa and of apartheid in South Africa, and victims of war in the former Yugoslavia.

Awards and Honors

Elie Wiesel received numerous awards and honors for his literary and human rights activities, including:

Prix Rivarol, 1963
Remembrance Award, 1965, for The Town beyond the Wall and all other writings
William and Janice Epstein Fiction Award, Jewish Book Council, 1965, for The Town beyond the Wall
Jewish Heritage Award, 1966, for excellence in literature
Prix Medicis, 1969, for Le Mendiant de Jerusalem
Prix Bordin, French Academy, 1972
Eleanor Roosevelt Memorial Award, 1972
American Liberties Medallion, American Jewish Committee, 1972
Frank and Ethel S. Cohen Award, Jewish Book Council, 1973, for Souls on Fire
Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, City College of the City University of New York, 1973
Faculty Distinguished Scholar Award, Hofstra University, 1973-74
Joseph Prize for Human Rights, Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1978
Zalman Shazar Award, State of Israel, 1979
Jabotinsky Medal, State of Israel, 1980
Prix Livre-International, 1980, and Prix des Bibliothecaires, 1981, both for Le Testament d'un poete juif assassine
Anatoly Scharansky Humanitarian Award, 1983
Congressional Gold Medal, 1985
Humanitarian award, International League for Human Rights, 1985
Freedom Cup award, Women's League of Israel, 1986
Nobel Peace Prize, 1986
Medal of Libery Award, 1986
Special Christopher Book Award, 1987
Achievement award, Artists and Writers for Peace in the Middle East, 1987
Profiles of Courage award, B'nai B'rith, 1987
Human Rights Law Award, International Human Rights Law Group, 1988
Presidential medal, Hofstra University, 1988
Human Rights Law award, International Human Rights Law Group, 1988
Bicentennial medal, Georgetown University, 1988
Janus Korczak Humanitarian award, NAHE, Kent State University, 1989
Count Sforza award in Philanthropy Interphil, 1989
Lily Edelman award for Excellence in Continuing Jewish Education, B'nai B'rith International, 1989
George Washington award, American Hungarian Foundation, 1989
Bicentennial medal, New York University, 1989
Humanitarian award Human Rights Campaign Fund, 1989
International Brotherhood award, C.O.R.E., 1990
Frank Weil award for distinguished contribution to the advancement of North American Jewish culture, Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, 1990
First Raoul Wallenberg medal, University of Michigan, 1990
Award of Highest Honor, Soka University, 1991
Facing History and Ourselves Humanity award, 1991
La Medaille de la Ville de Toulouse, 1991
Fifth CentennialChristopher Columbus medal, City of Genoa, 1992
First Primo Levi award, 1992
Ellis Island Medal of Honor, 1992
Presidential Medal of Freedom Literature Arts award, National Foundation for Jewish Culture, 1992
Ellis Island Medal of Honor, 1992
Guardian of the Children award, AKIM USA, 1992
Bishop Francis J. Mugavero award for religious and racial harmony, Queens College, 1994
Golden Slipper Humanitarian award, 1994
Interfaith Council on the Holocaust Humanitarian award, 1994
Crystal award, Davos World Economic Forum, 1995
First Niebuhr award, Elmhurst College, 1995
President's Award, Quinnipiac College, 1996
Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement, 1996
Lotos Medal of Merit, Lotos Club, 1996
Guardian of Zion Award, Bar-Ilan University, 1997
Canterbury Medalist, Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty, 1998
American Bar Association Annual Award, 1998
Rabbi Marc H. Tannenbaum Award for the Advancement of Interreligious Understanding, 1998
Yitzhak Rabin Peacemaker Award, Merrimack College, 1998
Aesop Prize, Children's Folklore Section, American Folklore Society, for King Solomon and His Magic Ring, 1999
Raoul Wallenberg International Humanitarian Award, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 1999
Mathilde Schechter Award, Women's League for Conservative Judaism, 2000
Manhattan Award, National Arts Club, 2000
Benediction Medal, Delbarton School, 2001
Humanitarian of the Year Award, New York Society of Association Executives, 2002
Dean's Medal, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, 2002
Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award, American Jewish Historical Society, 2002
Lifetime Visionary Award, Israeli Film Festival, New York, 2002
Named Humanitarian of the Century, Council of Jewish Organizations
Recipient of over 100 honorary degrees
Congressional Gold Medal and the Medal of Liberty Award
Grand-Croix in the French Legion of Honor.

Honors established in his name: Elie Wiesel Award for Holocaust Research, University of Haifa; Elie Wiesel Chair in Holocaust Studies, Bar-Ilan University; Elie Wiesel Endowment Fund for Jewish Culture, University of Denver; Elie Wiesel Distinguished Service Award, University of Florida; Elie Wiesel Awards for Jewish Arts and Culture, B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations; Elie Wiesel Chair in Judaic Studies, Connecticut College; Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics, Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.

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Personal Life

Elie Wiesel married Marion Erster Rose, 1969; children: Shlomo Elisha. His wife, the former Marion Erster Rose, was a Holocaust survivor; they married in 1969. Since Wiesel wrote his books in French, Marion Wiesel often collaborated with him on their English translations.

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