Question of the Day Read biography in front of you. Then answer the questions below. 1. What is the name of your person? Where were she/he from? When were she/he born? 2. List two things that happened to him/her during the years List two things that happened to him/her during the years What happened to him/her?
Elie Wiesel (pronounced ELL-ee vee-ZEL) Obj: Learn background information to understand the relevance of the novel, Night
Background Information Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Transylvania, (now part of Romania) in 1928 At 15, Elie and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz ( a concentration camp) because they were Jewish
Elie Wiesel at 15, the age he was imprisoned in Auschwitz
Elie’s Family
Where He Grew Up In 1941, 20,000 Jews lived in Sighet Today, 100 Jews are left Sighet, Transylvania is located in present day Romania and is referred to as Sighetu, Marmatiei. Over 40,000 people live there today.
1941 in Sighet Elie Wiesel met Moishe the Beadle
Elie Wiesel’s House in Sighet
Elie’s entry card to Paris
Elie as writer After graduating from the Sorbonne (in Paris), Elie became a journalist for a small French newspaper He also worked as a translator and a Hebrew teacher to make ends meet
Elie’s entry card to Paris
The novel, Night After 10 years of silence, Elie was persuaded to recount his time at Auschwitz Night, his memoir about his experience during the Holocaust, was published in 1960.
Night - continued Has been translated into more than 30 languages Sold more than 7 million copies Wiesel has written 40 books since Most of them are about the Holocaust, which still “haunts” him
Nobel Peace Prize In 1986, Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize He used the Prize to create the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Wiesel delivered his Nobel Prize speech in Oslo on December 10, 1986.
His work Wiesel considers himself a “messenger of the dead among the living.” He considers it his mission to make sure that the Holocaust is never forgotten. He also works fervently to protect others from Human Rights violations
Human Rights- Wiesel has defended: Israel Soviet Jews Nicaragua's Miskito Indians Argentina's Desaparecidos, Cambodian refugees Victims of famine and genocide in Africa, of apartheid in South Africa\ Victims of war in the former Yugoslavia.
Present Wiesel lives with his wife in Connecticut He is 80 years old He is still working to promote human rights all over the world
Recent photo of Elie Wiesel
Quotes “Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures, it is our gift to each other.”- Nobel Speech, 1986
In November 1945 Niemöller visited Dachau, where he had been imprisoned from 1941 to April 1945.
Summary and Processing Summary Write a summary about what you learned about the author Elie Wiesel Finally, mention why you think the author may have chosen to name the novel Night. How may this be symbolism? Process Your option, but it must support your summary
Question of the Day 1/4 Choose one of the quotes I showed you and put it in your own words. In addition, mention why the meaning has relevance still today
Works Cited “Elie Wiesel.” The Elie Wiesel Foundation. 12 March iesel.aspx “Elie Wiesel Biography.” The Nobel Foundation. 12 March aureates/1986/wiesel-bio.html
Works Cited “The Life and Work of Elie Wiesel.” PBS.org. 12 March ml