Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) was a writer and human rights activist. Born in Romania, he survived the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, chronicling his experience in his memoir Night. He wrote in Yiddish for the Forverts for many years, where he serialized the books that eventually became Dawn and Day. Among the most famous Jews of the 20th century, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
The famed writer discovered that one day we would have caller ID and home security cameras
In 1969 the author of ‘Night’ was shaken by a play about the father of the atom bomb
Editor’s note: This story by Elie Wiesel was first published in the Forward in Yiddish on December 12, 1969. This Hanukkah, we decided it was time to give the original Yiddish new life. This new translation, including aspects of the story not included in previous English translations, is by Myra Mniewski and Chana Pollack, the…
Defying the KGB agents milling around, thousands of Jews tried to get into the great hall of the synagogue
To mark our 120th anniversary, the Forward hunted through its archives for journalistic treasures. Here we present excerpts of a column by a former Forverts staff writer, the late Elie Wiesel, published Monday, June 12, 1967 — a heady time following Israel’s shocking Six Day War victory. Future generations will probably never believe it. Teachers…
Editor’s note: “My Friends” (“Mayne khaveyrim”) by Elie Wiesel was published in the Forverts on February 21, 1966. At that time Wiesel was a staff correspondent for the newspaper, contributing news articles, book reviews and political commentary, as well as memoiristic pieces and personal essays. In “My Friends” he recalled his youth growing up in…
The international community had just learned the cruel truth about the large-scale massacres of innocent people by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The press had done its job: No one could say we didn’t know about it. I was invited by the International Rescue Committee as part of a delegation to go on site. We…
At a certain point in time and by all accounts, Hitler’s Germany already had lost the war. But that didn’t keep Germany from pursuing its program for our elimination. In the beginning, once plunged into the abyss of Auschwitz, where dying was the norm and living the miracle, I was convinced that I would never…
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