Elie Wiesel (1928-2016), was born in the Transylvanian town of Sighet, survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald as a teenager, and became an internationally acclaimed novelist and human rights activist.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. His memoir, Night, published in France as La Nuit in 1958 and in English in 1960, has become a classic of Holocaust literature. He was the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and was widely regarded to be the voice of the survivors of the Holocaust. He also started a foundation which bears his name.
Following his death on 2 July, 2016, President Barack Obama said “He raised his voice, not just against antisemitism, but against hatred, bigotry and intolerance in all its forms. He implored each of us, as nations and as human beings, to do the same, to see ourselves in each other and to make real that pledge of ‘never again.’”
