Elie Wiesel was born in 1928, in the town of Sighet, now part of Romania. During World War II, he, with his family and other Jews from the area, were deported to the German concentration and extermination camps, where his parents and little sister perished. Wiesel and his two older sisters survived. Night, narrated by Eliezer Wiesel, chronicles his experiences as a Jew during the Holocaust. His family is deported from Hungary, brought to Auschwitz, and experiences starvation, abuse, and death. In the preface of Night, Ellie explains. “And those words are: For the dead and the living, we must bear witness. Not only are we responsible for the memories of the dead, we are also responsible for what we are doing with those memories.” After reviewing …show more content…
And, if possible at all, with some measure of grace, we should, in a way, be capable of reconciling ourselves with the dead. To bring the living and the dead together in a spirit of reconciliation is part of that vision.” The timeline has highlighted many important events in Ellie’s life where he has continued to bear witness. In 1955, Elie finished his Holocaust memoir, And the world remained silent. As soon as the book was published, he moved to the US. 1957, And the world was silent was published in France; Shortly after, 1960, Night was published in English. 1980-1986: Ellie served as the founding chairman of the US Holocaust Memorial Council and in 1986, Ellie won the Nobel Peace Prize. Ellie provides: "It was good talking to you, and I'm grateful to you for the medal. But this medal is not mine alone. It belongs to all.” Ellie testified in 1987, at the trial of Klaus Barbie, a former SS officer. ”No justice is possible for the dead. Memory. It is just about doing justice to memory.” Exploring Night as Literature explains more in depth the reason behind bearing witness and why it’s