“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.Never shall I forget that smoke.Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself.Never.”

Romanian-born American writer, professor, and political activist

Elie Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, and political activist. He was also a Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate, known for his witness to the destruction of European Jewry and for writing about memory, suffering, and moral responsibility. He wrote 57 books, mostly in French and English, including Night, drawn from his experience as a Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during the Holocaust. His work combines testimony with reflection, and his public life centered on remembrance, human rights, and the ethical demands of history.