Elie Wiesel: Holocaust Survivor

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Elie Wiesel Research Report
They are dying out and getting old. Some of them are still traumatized from the terrible events that happened to them long ago. Many of them don’t talk about what happened, but some do, and their stories are valuable. Among those, approximately 200,000 people, stands Elie Wiesel. In the late 1930’s the Holocaust began. Six million Jews were killed, and it was a dreadful time for the Jewish people. However, the people who did survive, did not give up. The life of Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor, has been rough, but he has a positive outlook on life and is well known for his books, stories, and famous awards.
On September 30, 1928, Elie Wiesel was born to Shlomo Wiesel and Sarah Wiesel in Sighet, Transylvania. Wiesel …show more content…
After four days on a cramped train, Wiesel arrived in Auschwitz. After an inmate asked Wiesel how old he was, Wiesel responded that he was fifteen. "No. You're eighteen," replied the inmate. The inmate knew that Wiesel had to lie about his age and health to the SS officer in order to not be killed right away, and Wiesel listened to the advice of the man (Wiesel 30). Wiesel and his father were taken to be slave laborers, but his mother and younger sister were sent to the gas chambers (Jewish Virtual Library). On his way to the prisons, Wiesel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent,” Wiesel thought to himself (Wiesel 32). Wiesel and his father survived Auschwitz and Buna Labor Camp for eight months. They suffered beatings, roll calls, hunger, and other torture. Wiesel also witnessed a hanging (Jewish Virtual Library). On January 29, 1945, Wiesel's father was taken to the crematorium because he was too weak. (Wiesel 112). The struggles of Elie Wiesel continued, but he still fought for his life and ended up surviving the …show more content…
While hospitalized, WIesel made an outline for a book, but swore not to talk about his experiences in the Holocaust for 10 years. In 1948, Wiesel enrolled in Sorbonne University. There, he studied literature, philosophy and psychology. He was very poor and at some points, considered committing suicide (Jewish Virtual Library). He became involved with the Irgun, a Jewish militant organization in Palestine, and translated words from hebrew to Yiddish for the Irgun newspaper (Jewish Virtual Library). In 1954, Wiesel interviewed the catholic writer François Mauriac. Mauriac was talking about how Jesus suffered a lot, and Wiesel became furious. “Ten years ago, not very far from here, I knew Jewish children every one of whom suffered a thousand times more, six million times more, than Christ on the cross. And we don’t speak about them”, said Wiesel. He then stormed out of the room. Mauriac followed him, and advised him to write about his experiences in the Holocaust. A friendship bond was created from this (Jewish Virtual Library). In 1969, Wiesel married Erster Rose, a divorced women from Austria. She translated all of his following books (Jewish Virtual Library). Wiesel has published over thirty books, has received numerous awards and approximately 75 honorary doctorates, earned the nobel peace prize, and has had many more
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