James Ellroy
American novelist, short story writer, essayist, memoirist
Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
Elie Wiesel was a renowned Romanian-American writer, professor, and Holocaust survivor who authored 57 books, including the powerful memoir “Night.” He was a vocal advocate for human rights, speaking out against various atrocities and oppression worldwide. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his tireless efforts to promote peace and understanding.
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About the Elie Wiesel
Eliezer “Elie” Wieselwas 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. He also advocated for many other causes like the state of Israel and against Hamas and 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 professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor. He was involved with Jewish causes and human rights causes and helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Wiesel was awarded various prestigious awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Elie Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, including the acclaimed memoir ,Night,, which detailed his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.
Elie Wiesel became a regular speaker on the subject of the Holocaust and remained a strong defender of human rights throughout his lifetime. He advocated for many causes, including the state of Israel, opposition to Hamas, and support for victims of oppression such as Soviet and Ethiopian Jews, the victims of apartheid in South Africa, the Bosnian genocide, Sudan, the Kurds, and the Armenian genocide.
Elie Wiesel was awarded various prestigious awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, in recognition of his tireless efforts to promote peace and understanding. He was also a founding board member of the New York Human Rights Foundation and remained active in it throughout his life.
Elie Wiesel helped establish the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., using his influence and experience as a Holocaust survivor to ensure the museum’s creation and continued operation as a powerful reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust.
Elie Wiesel was a professor of the humanities at Boston University, which created the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies in his honor to continue his legacy of teaching and research on the Holocaust and Jewish studies.
31 Quotes by Elie Wiesel
- 1.
I do not recall a Jewish home without a book on the table.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 2.
Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 3.
What does mysticism really mean? It means the way to attain knowledge. It’s close to philosophy, except in philosophy you go horizontally while in mysticism you go vertically.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 4.
Most people think that shadows follow, precede or surround beings or objects. The truth is that they also surround words, ideas, desires, deeds, impulses and memories.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 5.
Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 6.
I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead. and anyone who does not remember betrays them again.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 7.
There is a difference between a book of two hundred pages from the very beginning, and a book of two hundred pages which is the result of an original eight hundred pages. The six hundred are there. Only you don’t see them.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 8.
I marvel at the resilience of the Jewish people. Their best characteristic is their desire to remember. No other people has such an obsession with memory.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 9.
Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 10.
Our obligation is to give meaning to life and in doing so to overcome the passive, indifferent life.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 11.
No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 12.
In Jewish history there are no coincidences.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 13.
I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I’ve been closer to him for that reason.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 14.
Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 15.
There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 16.
Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 17.
Some stories are true that never happened.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 18.
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 19.
Not to transmit an experience is to betray it.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 20.
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 21.
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.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 22.
We have to go into the despair and go beyond it, by working and doing for somebody else, by using it for something else.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 23.
Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 24.
Man, as long as he lives, is immortal. One minute before his death he shall be immortal. But one minute later, God wins.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 25.
Peace is our gift to each other.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 26.
A destruction, an annihilation that only man can provoke, only man can prevent.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 27.
Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 28.
Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 29.
I write to understand as much as to be understood.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 30.
That is my major preoccupation, memory, the kingdom of memory. I want to protect and enrich that kingdom, glorify that kingdom and serve it.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)
- 31.
Once you bring life into the world, you must protect it. We must protect it by changing the world.
Elie WieselRomanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor (1928-2016)