Elie Wiesel

Sighet became part of Hungary in 1940, and in 1944 the Nazis deported the Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau. His mother and a sister were murdered there; he and his father were sent to the attached work camp Auschwitz III Monowitz. In January 1945, the two were marched to Buchenwald, where his father died.

After the war, he first lived in France, where he was encouraged by Nobel laureate Francois Mauriac to write about his experiences during the ordeal. Wiesel did, his most famous work is probably Night although he has been quite prolific, producing 36 works. Later he settled in the US and served as chairman for the Presidential Commission on the Holocaust (later renamed U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council) from 1978 to 1986.

He received the Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement in 1985 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He published his memoirs in 1995.

Criticism

Some criticism is based on the creation of a so-called Holocaust industry around the Holocaust myth. Also, Noam Chomsky named him "a terrible fraud" because although he militated "against the silence" about Holocaust and he decries terrorism, he remains silent on Palestinian issues and for working for the terrorist organization Irgun between 1947 and 1949.

Some of Elie Wiesel's more famous works include:

• Night
• The Oath
• Souls on Fire
• One Generation After
• A Beggar in Jerusalem
• Trial of God

Referenced By