Elie’s Holocaust

Presentation by:

Kadee Kurtz

CIS 101: Introduction to Computers

Events Leading up to the Holocaust

• January 30, 1933 – Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany• January 30, 1939 – Hitler threatens Jews during Reichstag speech• October 6, 1939 - Proclamation by Hitler on the isolation of

Jews. • September 1, 1941 - German Jews ordered to wear yellow stars. • September 17, 1941 - Beginning of general deportation of German

Jews

Appearing before the Nazi Reichstag (Parliament) on the sixth anniversary of his coming to power, Adolf Hitler made a speech commemorating that event and also made a public threat against the Jews...

…if the international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations once more into a world war, then the result will not be the Bolshevizing of the earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe!

The Wiesel Family

• Elie Wiesel’s parents were Shlomo and Sarah Wiesel – Shlomo was an Orthodox Jew of Hungarian descent, and a

shopkeeper who ran his own grocery store. It was Shlomo who instilled a strong sense of humanism in his son. His mother encouraged him to study the Torah and Kabbalah.

• Elie had three sisters: Hilda, Bea, and Tzipora • The Wiesel family lived in the town of Sighet

Sighet, Romania

Elie, his mom, and two older sisters

Elie Wiesel

• Elie Wiesel was born to Shlomo and Sarah Wiesel on September 30, 1928.

• Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Romania. – "Sighet was a typical shtetl, a

sanctuary for Jews," Wiesel has said. It was also a center for Hasidic Jewish learning.

• Wiesel spent a happy childhood. He learned Yiddish from his mother and father, and studied biblical Hebrew in school.

Deportation of the Wiesel FamilyDeportation of the Wiesel Family

April 19, 1944, the Hungarian authorities deported the Jewish community of Sighet to Auschwitz–Birkenau.

Elie Wiesel and his father were sent to the attached work camp Buna-Werke, a subcamp of Auschwitz III Monowitz.

“Arbeit Macht Frei…Works Brings Freedom”

Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp Entrance

Wiesel Family at Auschwitz

• At Auschwitz, Elie’s youngest sister, Tzipora, and mother were killed.

• On January 28, 1945, just a few weeks after Elie and his father were marched to Buchenwald and only months before the camp was liberated by the American Third Army on April 11, Wiesel's father suffered from dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion, and was later sent to the crematory. The last word his father spoke was “Eliezer”, Elie's name.

• Elie and his two older sisters, Hilda and Bea, were the only two from his family to survive.

Elie is in the second row, and seventh from the left.

Elie Wiesel After the War

• After the war, Wiesel was placed in a French Orphanage.– It was here, where Elie was

reunited with his two older sisters.

• Elie went on to study Philosophy at Sorbonne.

• He taught Hebrew and worked as a choirmaster before becoming a professional journalist.

Top left: Elie and his two older sisters

Bottom right: Elie in his twenties

Elie’s Life in the United States

• In 1955, Wiesel moved to New York.

• During his time in the U.S., Wiesel has written over 40 books. – His most important work, is

considered to be Holocaust literature.

• For his work in humanity, Elie received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

– Wiesel often spoke out about violence, repression, and racism.

Elie’s book, Night, is one of his most popular works regarding his Holocaust experiences.

Elie Weisel Today

• Today in the U.S., Wiesel still faces the hardships of racism that he has tried so hard to get rid of. – On February 1, 2007, Elie was

attacked in a San Francisco hotel, by an anti-Semitic group member, Eric Hunt.

– Hunt believed Elie’s nonfiction book, “Night,” was fiction.

– Hunt was arrested and charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment, elder abuse, stalking, battery and the commission of a hate crime.

Works Cited• Books and Writers, “Elie Wiesel (1928-),” Date published 2000,

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wiesel.htm, Date accessed April 8, 2007.

• The History Place, “Holocaust Timeline,” Date published 1997, http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html, Date accessed April 8, 2007.

• BookRags, “Elie Wiesel,” Date published unknown, http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Elie_Wiesel, Date accessed April 10, 2007.

• Fondazione Baracchi, “News: Anno 2006,” Date published unknown, http://www.fondazionebaracchi.it/news.htm, Date accessed April11,

2007.

Works Cited Continued

• Herodate.net, “Découvrir l'horreur,” Date published unknown, http://www.herodote.net/livrejeuneauschwitz.htm, Date accessed April 11, 2007.

• PBS, “Elie Wiesel: First Person Singular,” Date Published 2002, http://www.pbs.org/eliewiesel, Date accessed April 11,

2007.

• Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, “Elie Wiesel,” Last modified April 2007, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel, Date accessed April 8,

2007.

Kadee Kurtz

CIS 101: Introduction to Computers

April, 2007