1. Elie Wiesel Timeline Layer—
Hungary before the German occupation--USHMM maps

2. Sept. 30, 1928
Prewar view of the Transylvanian town of Sighet. Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Romania on Sept. 30, 1928.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Mitchell Eisen

3.
Leaders of the Sighet Jewish community. Those pictured include Mr. Hershkovich (seated far left), Mr. Klein (seated second from left), Mr. Yacobovich (standing far right), and Mr. Jahan (standing second row, right). Photograph taken ca
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Morris Spitzer

4. 1933
Hungary’s borders in under the rule of Admiral Miklos Horthy who had been an officer in the Austro-Hungarian navy, and who came to power in at the head of a conservative-nationalist coalition. He ruled for 24 years. Notice where Sighet, Wiesel’s home town, is at this time.
— USHMM Maps

5.
This poster urges Jews to: "Protect Jewish interests. Do not buy from our enemies. Do not watch their movies." Hungary,
— Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum Torteneti Fenykeptar

6. September 1939
Conscripts in the Hungarian Labor Service march to a work site. Mateszalka, Hungary, September
— Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum Torteneti Fenykeptar

7. 1940
Hungary gains Northern Transylvania from Romania, including Elie Wiesel’s town of Sighet.
-USHMM Map

8. November 20, 1940
Slovak prime minister Vojtech Tuka (front row, standing) announces Slovakia's entry into the Axis alliance (initially Germany, Italy, and Japan; also joined by Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria). Berlin, Germany, November Hungary joins the Axis alliance.
— Czechoslovak News Agency

9. November 1940
Hungarian Jews stand by the open door of a cattle car while awaiting deportation to a forced labor battalion.
— United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Eva Heistola

10. 1941
“I was twelve. I believed profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple.” -- Elie Wiesel, Night
Prewar group portrait in front of a synagogue in the Transylvanian town of Sighet.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Mitchell Eisen

11. Summer 1941
In the summer of 1941 thousands of foreign and undocumented Jews living in the eastern Carpathians were targeted for expulsion by the Hungarian National Central Alien Control Office. In July and August approximately 20,000 of these Jews were rounded-up by Hungarian units and deported over the Ukrainian border into the waiting hands of the SS. After being transported to Kolomyia, these Jews were marched in columns to Kamenets- Podolsk. Jewish deportees march through the streets of Kamenets-Podolsk to an execution site outside of the city.
-United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Ivan Sved —

12. February 12, 1943 http://bit.ly/stalingrad43
Assault units of the 62nd Soviet army battle the Germans in Stalingrad. After this defeat, Admiral Horthy realized the Germans would not win World War II and sought a surrender to the Allies.
--US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

13. March 19, 1944 http://bit.ly/horthyandhitler
Hitler and Miklos Horthy meet at the German occupation of Hungary in March 1944 after Horthy’s government had sought a peace treaty with the Allies. Hitler knew about it and occupied Hungary.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum

14. April 1944 http://bit.ly/agirubin
In April 1944, after the German occupation of Hungary, Agi, her mother, six-year-old brother, and aunt were forced into the Munkacs ghetto. Before deportation to Auschwitz, Agi was forced to work in the ghetto's brick factory. At Auschwitz, Agi, then 14 years old, was chosen as part of a Sonderkommando. This forced-labor detachment had to sort the clothing and possessions of inmates and victims at Auschwitz. In January 1945, Agi and other prisoners were forced on a death march from Auschwitz. She was liberated by Soviet forces in April/May

15. May 18, 1944
“They began their journey without a backward glance at the abandoned streets, the dead, empty houses, the gardens, the tombstones...On everyone’s back was a pack. In everyone’s eyes was suffering drowned in tears. Slowly, heavily, the procession made its way to the gate of the ghetto.” -- Elie Wiesel, Night
Jews bound for the rail station during deportation action from Sighet. May 18, 1944.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Albert Rosenthal

16. May 1944 (1)
A deserted street in the area of the Sighet Marmatiei ghetto. This photograph was taken after the deportation of the ghetto population. Sighet Marmatiei, Hungary, May 1944.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Albert Rosenthal

17. May 1944 (2) http://bit.ly/barbarafarkas
Barbara was born in the province of Arad in northern Transylvania, Romania. She went to school until the Hungarian army occupied the area in 1940 and she was no longer allowed to attend. After the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944, discrimination against Jews intensified. Barbara and her family were forced into the Oradea ghetto. She worked in the ghetto hospital until she was deported to the Auschwitz camp. At Auschwitz, she worked in the kitchens to receive extra food. She was deported to another camp, and later forced on a death march. Toward the war's end, the Red Cross rescued Barbara. She returned to Arad after World War II and worked as a biochemist.

18. May 1944 (3) -Rail car in the USHMM permanent exhibit
“The following morning, we marched to the station, where a convoy of cattle wagons was waiting. The Hungarian police made us get in--eighty people in each car. We were left a few loaves of bread and some buckets of water. The bars at the window were checked, to see that they were not loose. Then the cars were sealed. In each car, one person was placed in charge. If anyone escaped, he would be shot...The train stopped at Kaschau, a little town on the Czechoslovak frontier. We realized then that we were not going to stay in Hungary. Our eyes were opened, but too late.” --Elie Wiesel, Night
-Rail car in the USHMM permanent exhibit

19. May 1944 (4)
“There was an abominable odor floating in the air. Suddenly, our doors were opened. Some odd-looking characters, dressed in striped shirts and black trousers leapt into the wagon. They held electric torches and truncheons. They began to strike to the right and the left, shouting: ‘Everybody get out! Everyone out of the wagon! Quickly!’..In front of us flames. In the air that smell of burning flesh...We had arrived--at Birkenau, reception center for Auschwitz.” --Elie Wiesel, Night
A transport of Hungarian Jews lines up for selection at Auschwitz. Poland, May 1944.
— Yad Vashem Photo Archives

20. May 1944 (5)
“‘Men to the left! Women to the right!’ Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight short, simple words. Yet that was the moment when I parted from my mother. I had not had time to think, but already I felt the pressure of my father’s hand: we were alone. For part of a second I glimpsed my mother and my sisters moving away to the right. Tzipora held Mother’s hand. I saw them disappear into the distance...and I did not know that in that place, at that moment, I was parting from my mother and Tzipora forever.” --Elie Wiesel, Night
Hungarian Jews on their way to the gas chambers. Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, May
— Yad Vashem Photo Archives

21. May/June 1944
“The camp looked as though it had suffered an epidemic: empty and dead. There were just a few well-clad prisoners walking about between the blocks...The prisoners all agreed, saying, “Buna’s a very good camp. You can stand it. The important thing is not to get transferred to the building unit.” --Elie Wiesel, Night
An aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Auschwitz concentration camp showing the Auschwitz III (Buna plant).
— United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park

22. January 25, 1945
“The choice was in our hands. For once we could decide our fate for ourselves. We could both stay in the hospital, where I could, thanks to my doctor, get him entered as a patient or a nurse. Or else we could follow the others. ‘Well, what shall we do, father?’ He was silent. ‘Let’s be evacuated with the others,’ I said to him. ‘Let’s hope we shan’t regret it, Eliezer.’ I learned after the war the fate of those who stayed behind in the hospital. They were quite simply liberated by the Russians two days after the evacuation.” --Elie Wiesel, Night
A watercolor and ink drawing from the pictorial memoire entitled, "Images from Auschwitz-Birkenau, by John Wiernicki, Polish Resistance Fighter, Prisoner Number P "
— United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of John Wiernicki

23. January 26, 1945
The transport list from Auschwitz to Buchenwald. Elie Wiesel is on the second page with his age listed as fifteen years older than he was (lying about his age to save his life). His first name is listed as Lazar, which...
— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.

24. April 11, 1945
“About six o’clock in the evening, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald… Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread.” --Elie Wiesel, Night
Former prisoners of the "little camp" in Buchenwald stare out from the wooden bunks in which they slept three to a "bed." Elie Wiesel is pictured in the second row of bunks, seventh from the left, next to the vertical beam.
— — National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; US Holocaust Memorial Museum

25. April 27, 1945
Escorted by American soldiers, child survivors of Buchenwald file out of the main gate of the camp. Buchenwald, Germany, April 27, 1945.
— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.

26. May 24, 2007 http://bit.ly/wieselpodcast
Elie Wiesel—Holocaust survivor, best-selling author, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient—has worked tirelessly to combat intolerance, injustice, and apathy. Earlier this year, Wiesel was accosted by a Holocaust denier at a hotel in San Francisco. While the attack left him physically unharmed, the incident led Wiesel to reflect on a recurring theme in his work, which he calls "the perils of indifference."
Welcome to Voices on Antisemitism, a free podcast series of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I'm Daniel Greene. Every other week, we invite a guest to reflect about the many ways that antisemitism and hatred influence our world today. From his office in New York City, here's Elie Wiesel.