The Story of Elie Wiesel ok_night/author.html peace/Wiesel/homepage.html Created By Sarah Meidinger

The Early Years Born in Sighet, Transylvania on Sept. 30, 1928 Born in Sighet, Transylvania on Sept. 30, 1928 He had two older sisters and one younger sister He had two older sisters and one younger sister His father was looked up to by members of the community and they would come to him for advice His father was looked up to by members of the community and they would come to him for advice His family was very faithful to the Jewish religion His family was very faithful to the Jewish religion ers/wie0-009

The Horror Begins - Deportation On April 19, 1944 Elie and his family were deported, along with all the other members of the town of Sighet, to Auschwitz- Birkenau. They were crammed into cattle cars and did not eat or drink anything for days.

The Horror – Concentration Camps t/blauschwitz42.htm When Elie’s family arrived at the concentration camps, Elie and his father were separated from his mother and sisters. Once Elie and his father were stripped of their clothing and shaved from head to toe, they were registered into the camp. They saw babies being thrown into the air and shot and grown men being burned alive. In the pictures to the right, the top one is women being shaved and the bottom one is all the clothes and shoes that were once owned by Jews.

The Horror – Forced Labor caust/blbuchenwald14.htm In the concentration camps, the men were forced into building railroads or doing other hard labor jobs. If they stopped working for a few seconds, they would be shot. If they tried to run away, they got shot. Even if they looked too weak to go on, they were shot. A lot of the men died from brutality. Elie always made sure to work his hardest and stay in shape so that he was not shot because of being too weak or not working hard enough. He also pushed his father to work hard and not look too weak in order to keep him stay alive.

The Horror - Malnutrition hen.htm The men were not fed properly and eventually became malnourished. Thousands starved to death and as you can see, their bones protruded out through their skin. Six million people died in the concentration camps during WWII. This is a picture of the barracks at Buchenwald. Elie Wiesel is the seventh person in the second row from the bottom.

The Horror – Medical Experiments mpsbuch.htm Prisoners were taken into medical settings and had various organs removed from their bodies for experimental purposes. No medication was given and many died from these horrible medical procedures that were performed on them. Elie was taken to a doctor to get his gold tooth pulled, but he was able to spare it because he knew down the road he might need that gold in order to survive.

The Horror - Crematoriums enwald2.htm Crematory ovens were used to burn dead bodies. Sometimes they would make live people march into the ovens to be killed. Smoke would fill the air all day long and the stench was horrible for the prisoners because they knew that someday they might be in the ovens. Elie’s father was burned in the crematory, but Elie does not know if he was alive or dead when they took him.

The Horror Ends buchenwald25.htm Finally in April of 1945 Buchenwald was liberated by the Third American Army. Elie had survived Auschwitz, Buna, Buchenwald and Gleiwitz. But his father had died in Buchenwald four months earlier from dysentery, starvation, exposure, and exhaustion. Elie’s love for his religion and his family had all disappeared during his stay at the concentration camps. All he could think about was keeping himself alive in the camps. His spirit and great wit was gone and all he had left was his fragile body that he could not even recognize when he looked into a mirror for the first time in a year and a half.

After the Horror He He began to study philosophy, literature and psychology in Paris became a journalist for a French newspaper also began to find his faith again in the Jewish traditions Elie later learned that his mother and youngest sister died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. His two older sisters had survived After the liberation, Elie lived in a French orphanage

Elie’s Achievements Wiesel has written various novels about his experiences during the Holocaust including “Night” Wiesel has written various novels about his experiences during the Holocaust including “Night” He has written over 40 novels in his lifetime He has written over 40 novels in his lifetime He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in

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 Wiesel In His Own Words