Elie Wiesel was fifteen years old when he and his family were deported by the Nazis from their home in Sighet, Transylvania, to Auschwitz in 1943. His mother and younger sister perished; his two older sisters survived.
Wiesel and his father were transported to Buchenwald in January 1945, where his father died. The camp was liberated in April 1945.
After the Holocaust, Wiesel became one of the most notable voices bearing witness to the events of the Holocaust.
He has authored more than 40 books, and his memoir, Night, has been translated into more than thirty languages. Wiesel led the creation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
In 1986, he won the Nobel Prize for Peace. He is also a leading voice tying memorialization of the Holocaust to an obligation to speak out against threats of genocide.
