The Holocaust, an event in a history that some people want to forget, while others will never forget the tragedy of the horrific holocaust. A day where over “ Six million Jews lost their lives”. (Biography. com) A time period when a mastermind by the name of Adolf Hitler took the minds of countless German soldiers to create an almost unstoppable army. From Julius Caesar from Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler was definitely the most terrifying and vicious of them all because unlike all other leaders he killed millions while others couldn’t even compare to his German accomplishments. We would have never of had a detailed image about the Holocaust if it wasn’t for man named Elie Wiesel. As you know it was a very dreary and dark time in the 1940’s, …show more content…
(The Washington Post) Little did he know that Adolf Hitler and the rest of the Nazi army was getting ready to absolutely exterminate and viciously attack the Jews with no mercy what so ever. “At the early age of 15, Wiesel and his entire family were sent to Auschwitz as part of the Holocaust” (Biography.com). This event in Wiesel’s childhood was surprisingly not the worst, it was only the beginning of his tragic young life. Later on, still age 15, “Wiesel and his father were transferred to other Nazi camps and force marched to Buchenwald where his father died after being beaten by a German soldier”. (Biography.com). Elie Wiesel watched his dad die in front of his face and by the time Wiesel was free (1945), his father’s body had already rotted away, he didn’t even get to say goodbye. “ Wiesel was freed from Buchenwald with his two sisters (Beatrice and Hilda Wiesel) on April 11, 1945” (Biography.com). If Elie Wiesel never would've survived the Holocaust than no one would be able to read his most famous book of all time, …show more content…
Wiesel chairman of the President’s commision on the Holocaust, which would call for the creation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. It was an important recognition of his role in the Holocaust community” (The Washington Post). Elie Wiesel played the largest role when it comes to being in charge of the Holocaust Memorial Museum because he wasn’t appointed by just anybody, but the 39th President of the United States of America. Wiesel knew it was the most honorable duty he’d taken in his lifetime, but that’s not the only President Wiesel has met. He has also met the 42nd President of the United States of America, President Bill Clinton. “Speaking at the dedication of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993, Mr. Wiesel faced President Bill Clinton and said, Mr. President, I must tell you something. I have been in the former Yugoslavia last fall. I cannot sleep since what I have seen. As a Jew I am saying that we must do something to stop the bloodshed in that country” (The Washington Post). Speaking out to any US President is hard enough, but Elie Wiesel took the idea one step farther and even asked Bill Clinton to do a favor for him. This trait in Wiesel shows how much courage and faith he has, not only in his country, but the President as
Elie Wiesel lived through the most horrifying period in recorded history. He is a survivor of the Holocaust, a German political movement that ripped apart families and slaughtered over 11 million innocent people. As soon as he was liberated, Wiesel began to write and speak publicly about the horrors he witnessed. Night is his memoir about what he saw first hand on his journey and the cruelties committed by officers and even his fellow prisoners. Perils of Indifference was his speech to the White House in 1999, discussing one factor that not only fueled the Holocaust, but also demoralised prisoners even more.
Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel is an internationally acclaimed author, teacher, and Holocaust survivor best known for Night, a memoir about his experiences during the Holocaust. He has won numerous awards for his achievements, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Medal of Liberty, and the Nobel Prize for Peace. Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928, and is currently 87 years old. He was born in Sighet, Transylvania, which is a small town in present day Romania. Having been influenced by the spiritual beliefs of his grandparents and his father’s expressions of Judaism, he pursued religious studies at a nearby yeshiva, which is a Jewish institution that focuses on the study of sacred texts.
About one-third of all Jewish people in the world were murdered during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel was not apart of that appalling statistic and credits luck for his survival, although his experiences were no less tragic. Elie Wiesel himself writes that he is not sure how or why he survived however, went on to accomplish many things with the chance he was given in honor of those who lost their lives. Wiesel was able to write novels, create his own foundation and receive awards during his time on Earth. Amy Ray once said,“It's important to have a voice; it's more important to use it.”
Wiesel is aware that most of the viewers are knowledgeable of the fact that he is a Holocaust survivor, and to emphasize this, he discusses his personal experience of those horrific times. This is beneficial to building his credibility because of the emotional context his experiences hold; the emotion will hook the audience’s attention and will cling them to his words. The first personal experience he discusses is the time young Wiesel was freed. “Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town…was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart.” (Wiesel pg.
During the 1960’s Weisel helped Jews in the Soviet Union who faced discrimination, persecution, and were denied the freedom to worship. As a result, United States President Jimmy Carter made Elie Wiesel the chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. In addition, because of Wiesel’s efforts a Holocaust Remembrance Day and the United States Holocaust Memorial Muesum were created. Elie Weisel’s main goal of his life was to help anyone that was experiencing persecution and promised himself to never be a indifferent to these people. For instance, he provided for the Miskito Indians, refugees, victims of famine and genocide in Africa, and victims of war.
Elie Wiesel strives for peace in a tormented world and atonement for human dignity as he implores Ronald Reagan to reconsider his decision to visit a Bitburg cemetery, a site where graves of Hitler's Waffen SS were found. Wiesel, Jewish political activist and Holocaust witness, begins his address to President Reagan by setting his medal as a symbol inclusive of “all those who remember what SS killers have done”. Using an anecdote of his own personal experience, and a rhetorical question, Wiesel uses humour and an understatement to claim he learned “small things” over the last forty years; however, “the perils of language and those of silence” are anything but. This emphasizes the magnitude of their importance. His deliberate diction is evident
In 1956 he moved to New York to meet the United Nations and became a citizen of the U.S.A. in 1963. Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize and was a professor at Boston University. He worked much of his adult life in favor of oppressed people. His personal experience of the Holocaust has allowed him to use his talents as a writer , teacher and storyteller to defend human rights and peace throughout the
Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Romania. He lived with his parents Shlomo and Sarah Wiesel and his three sisters Tzipora, Beatrice, and Hilda. Before, Elie and his family were taken to a concentration camp, he did his religious Judaism studies at a yeshiva. In May 1994 when Elie was only 15 years old his family was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland. Elie and his father were sent Buna Werke, a labor camp that was apart of Auschwitz were he and his father worked in horrible conditions.
A Lucky Man Who Survived The Reign Terrible, chaotic, sad, and devastating are only a few vague words to describe the Holocaust. During Adolf Hitler’s reign millions of Jews were victims, including Elie Wiesel. Even from his early years of life, Elie lived as a Jew at the time when only those of the Aryan race were accepted, however, these prejudices never defeated his spirit. When he lived at Auschwitz at the young age of fifteen, he was suicidal. His survival was nothing short of a miracle and his suffering eventually compelled him to try and change the world.
Elie Wiesel was Jewish author and humanist that was born in 1928 in Romania. During World War 2, Wiesel was witness and experienced the atrocities committed during the Holocaust where his family was deported to Auschwitz. Wiesel’s parents and little sister ended up dying from the conditions present in the camp. After the war, he went on to be an author and a human rights activist. Wiesel advocated for remembering about and learning from the Holocaust and became the leading spokesman on the Holocaust.
One thing he accomplished is that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for speaking out against violence, repression, and racism. Another one of his accomplishments is that on November 30, 2006 Wiesel received an honorary knighthood in London in recognition of his work towards raising Holocaust education in the United Kingdom. He has also been honored with numerous prizes including “The Congressional Gold Medal” in 1985 and “The International Center in New York 's Award of Excellence”. Wiesel started the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and served as chairperson of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council from 1978 to 1986. He is also the Founding President of the Paris based Universal Academy of Cultures.
Elie Wiesel: Effectively Delivering a Crucial Message In his speech, The Perils of Indifference, Elie Wiesel expresses his gratitude for the American soldiers, while addressing mankind’s habitual indifference. He claims that despite the amount of violence happening in our world, “[it] is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes” (Wiesel). Wiesel effectively speaks to his audience using mixed syntax, intelligible diction, and earnest tone that not only pertains to those present, but also can be understood by a wide range of people all over the world. The powerful message about how indifference is damaging our society could not be conveyed in a more exceeding
Elie Wiesel voiced his emotions and thoughts of the horrors done to Jewish people during World War II whilst developing his claim. Wiesel “remember[s] his bewilderment,” “his astonishment,” and “his anguish” when he saw they were dropped into the ghetto to become slaves and to be slaughtered. He repeats the words “I remember” because he and the world, especially those who suffered in the ghettos and camps, would never be able to forget how innocent suffered. Consequently, he emphasized that “no one” has the right to advocate for the dead. Like many other people in the world, he lost his family during the war.
They feared nothing. They were dead and did not know it” (Wiesel, 1999). Him choosing to take this approach and provide that bit of information coupled with his opinion of how his century will be judged, Elie Wiesel manages to effectively press upon the emotions of his listeners, painting portraits that they could all mentally envision or even recall. However, cautious as to not come off as manipulative or disingenuous regarding his gratitude towards the American people, he begins to further establish his credibility by explaining why he once felt so hopeless and stripped of
Elie Wiesel’s speech, “Hope, Despair and Memory,” was given not only to accept the Nobel Peace Prize but also to commemorate the lives lost during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel was a Jewish Holocaust survivor who devoted the remaining part of his life to preventing mass genocides like the Holocaust from happening again. After the Holocaust, Wiesel became a Professor at Boston University, but most of all, he became a humanitarian. In his lifetime, he wrote a total of about 40 books. His most popular is his memoir, “Night,” in which he wrote about his experiences during the Holocaust and his faith in God.