| St. Johns Welcomes Nobel Peace Prize Winner Elie Wiesel |
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MICUA Matters Fall 2009
Wiesel, who was born in the town of Sighet in Transylvania, was 15 when he and his family were deported to Auschwitz. His mother and younger sister perished; his two older sisters survived. Wiesel and his father were later sent to Buchenwald, where his father died before the camp was liberated in April 1945. He described how he remains anchored by his faith and his strong belief in education—especially reading. “History is at a crossroads. We need to wake up and read. Read documents, memoirs, testimonials.”
Wiesel is a professor of literature and philosophy at Boston University. He is the author of more than 50 novels and nonfiction works. Several months after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, Marion and Elie Wiesel established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity.
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Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel delivered the Steiner Lecture in September at St. John’s College to an overflow crowd of more than 700 students, staff, and members of the local Annapolis community. The humanitarian, philosopher, and author spoke of the need for tolerance and respect among all religions and cultures, as well as the need to guard against indifference. “We must all care,” Wiesel said.” Indifference, not ugliness, is the opposite of beauty; indifference, not death, is the opposite of life; indifference, not hate, is the opposite of love.”