Grammyism: "I want to enjoy this good time."
" I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Born: September 30, 1928 in Sighetu Marmației, RomaniaDied: July 2, 2016
Spouse: Marion Wiesel (1969-2016)
Children: Shlomo Elisha WieselAwards: Nobel Piece Prize, Metal of Liberty, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Gold Metal, National Humanities Medal, Lifetime Literacy Achievement Award, Prix Medicis, National Jewish Book Award
Those of you who have heard of Elie Wiesel may have read his memoir Night, which captures his horrific experience in the Holocaust. Although Elie Wiesel's story is as tragic as one's could be, he captures it through his writing in a way that brings beauty. In his writing, he gives the millions of lives lost, a voice.
At the age of 15, Wiesel and his family were forced from their homes by Hungarian gendarmerie and the German SS and police from Sighet to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister Tziporagey seperated from Elie and his father Shlomo. The last time his mother and Younger sister are seen was when they we're standing across from Elie in a separate categorized line on the other side of the camp. In January of 1945, Elie and his father are moved to Buchenwald Concentration camp- eventually the land in which Elie would witness his father suffer and finally perish. Elie was now left with no alone in a land of torture, sinister acts, and hopelessness.
The heartbreaking truth is that his father died a mere 3 months before Buchenwald was finally liberated on April 11, 1945. That same day, Elie and other children of deceased family, are transferred to an orphanage in France. In Night, Elie explained that when he looked in the mirror for the first time since he was in the concentration camps, Elie did not recognize who he was and felt as though a stranger was looking back at him. Could you imagine not knowing or recognizing yourself? I certainly can not.
In the time after the liberation, Elie became reunited with his two surviving older sister after one of them saw a photo of him in the orphanage. Years later, it became clear Elie didn't allow all of his pain to break him down. Instead, Elie used his brilliance, skill, and strength to speak for those who have lost there voice. He spoke out against Bosnian Ethnic cleansing, Combodian refugees, and South African apartheid.Later in Elie's life, he achieves more than most is one life time. In 1960, Night is released after being translated into English. Three years later, Elie becomes an American Citizen. In the years of 1972-1976, he becomes a distinguished Professor of Judaic Studies at the City University of New York. In 1978, he is appointed chairman of the Prssident's Commission on the Holocaust by president Jimmy Carter and a year later, he is appointed founding chairman of The United States Holocaust Memorial Council. On April 19, 1985, Elie receives the Congressional Gold Medal from Ronald Reagan. A year later, he rightfully wins the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1987, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity is developed. In 2010, Prssident Obama presents Elie with the National Himanities Medal.
On July 2, 2016, Elie Wiesel died of natural causes in his Manhattan home at the age of 87. Clearly Elie had a tragic life, but instead of becoming a man full of hatred and scorn, he pushed his pain and tragedy toward changing the world and preventing another human being from witnessing and experiencing the horror that Elie did himself.
I can truly say that Elie Wiesel is one of the people that has inspired me most in my life so far. Who inspires you? Leave your inspirational oldie below!
