Biography of author elie wiesel quotes

Eliezer " Elie " Wiesel [ a ] September 30, — July 2, 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 Buchenwald concentration 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.

Elie wiesel quotes about the holocaust

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. Wiesel received awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in Dodye was active and trusted within the community.

Wiesel's father, Shlomo, instilled a strong sense of humanism in his son, encouraging him to learn Hebrew and to read literature, whereas his mother encouraged him to study the Torah. Wiesel said his father represented reason, while his mother Sarah promoted faith. Wiesel had three siblings—older sisters Beatrice and Hilda, and younger sister Tzipora.

Beatrice and Hilda survived the war, and were reunited with Wiesel at a French orphanage. Tzipora, Shlomo, and Sarah did not survive the Holocaust. In May , the Hungarian authorities, under German pressure, began to deport the Jewish community to the Auschwitz concentration camp , where up to 90 percent of the people were murdered on arrival.

Immediately after they were sent to Auschwitz, his mother and his younger sister were murdered in the gas chambers. Wiesel and his father were later deported to the concentration camp at Buchenwald.