Other literary forms
Since the appearance in 1956 of Un di Velt hot geshvign (in French as La Nuit, 1958; Night, 1960), Elie Wiesel (vee-ZEHL) has published many works of fiction and nonfiction. Among these are Les Juifs du silence(1966; The Jews of Silence, 1966), a personal testimony of his trip to Russia; Le Chant des morts (1966; Legends of Our Time, 1968), Entre deux soleils (1970; One Generation After, 1970), and Un Juif aujourd’hui (1977; A Jew Today, 1978), collections of essays and short stories; several volumes of biblical portraits and Hasidic tales; the plays Zalmen: Ou, La Folie de Dieu (pb. 1968; Zalmen: Or, The Madness of God, 1974) and Le Procès de Shamgorod tel qu’il se déroula le 25 février 1649 (pb. 1979; The Trial of God: As It Was Held on February 25, 1649, in Shamgorod, 1979); and a cantata, Ani Maamin: Un Chant perdu et retrouvé (1973; Ani Maamin: A Song Lost and Found Again, 1973). Some of his later works, the biblical portraits and Hasidic tales, although written in French, were originally published in the English translation by his wife, Marion Wiesel.
Achievements
Elie Wiesel is one of the most important figures in the genre known as “the literature of the Holocaust.” He brings to literature a new literary vocabulary, rooted in the Bible, that is at once mystical, legalistic, theological, and historical. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Wiesel considers himself to be a messenger from the dead to the living, and, as a witness, he bears testimony both to the unfathomable events of the death camps and to the current, unfolding history of his people. Wiesel’s work, parochial in context, is universal in perception. It speaks to all humankind, for all participated, either actively or silently, in the supreme trial of their humanity. He views the Holocaust as touching upon every facet of one’s life and interests, and he perceives humanity’s major problem to be survival in the post-Holocaust world.
As a writer, Wiesel is preoccupied with the inadequacy of language, but not in the abstract manner of many contemporary writers. Language affirms a belief in humankind and attests its grandeur. The Holocaust negates humanity. It represents a misuse of language; the failure of imagination; the rule of the depraved; the suspension of the senses, of beliefs, of time; the inversion of order. To capture the Holocaust in language is to impose upon it a decorum that in itself is a betrayal of those victimized by this satanic maelstrom. Wiesel believed, when he began to write, that the tale nevertheless must be told, because the murderer murders not only his victim but also himself. He says, “At Auschwitz, not only man died, but also the idea of man.” Awareness of the Holocaust may save the world from self-obliteration.
Wiesel raises questions that are unanswerable, questions intended to arouse the consciousness of a people, the progeny of the indifferent observers of the decade of the 1940’s. He also vies with God, not as a defiant disbeliever but as a believer in the biblical tradition of the prophets who have challenged God, remonstrated with him, and protested heavenly decrees. There is no gaiety in Wiesel’s works. There is laughter, but it is not a joyous laughter. It is the laughter of a madman defying his creator. Writers, theologians, and humanists of all faiths have attempted to come to terms with the problems that Wiesel presents.
Writing, for Wiesel, is not simply intended as a moral lesson for the post-Holocaust generations. It is also, and perhaps primarily—as he explains in the essay “Mes Maîtres” (“My Teachers”), in Legends of Our Time —a monument to the unburied dead, to the millions whose celestial cemeteries are...
(This entire section contains 916 words.)
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bereft of tombstones.
Wiesel’s first publication, Night, is in the form of a memoir of his Holocaust experiences. Wiesel did not have an easy time publishing his initial work. It originally appeared in 1955 as an eight-hundred-page manuscript in Yiddish titled Un di Velt hot geshvign (and the world was silent) and was published in Argentina by a Yiddish press. It was then condensed to a little more than one hundred pages, translated into French, given the title La Nuit, and, with the help of Wiesel’s close friend François Mauriac, published in France in 1958. It was an instant success. Stella Rodway translated the French version into English, but major publishing houses in the United States rejected the manuscript because the subject matter was “too sad” to appeal to the general public. Finally, in 1960, the publishing company Hill & Wang accepted the manuscript for publication. Wiesel would continue to write in French; his later books were translated into English by his wife, Marion. The exception is his eyewitness account of his trip to Russia, The Jews of Silence, which was originally written in Hebrew as a series of journalistic articles for an Israeli newspaper. It was thereafter put together in its present form. Some of Wiesel’s essays first appeared in various magazines prior to their appearance in Legends of Our Time and A Jew Today.
Wiesel is a celebrated lecturer sought after by various organizations, conferences, and campuses, and he has served on the boards of numerous national and international organizations. He holds honorary doctoral degrees from more than forty colleges and universities and has received awards for literary, academic, and humanitarian contributions from numerous organizations. In 1983 he won the Belgian International Peace Prize, and in 1986 he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the period since he received the Nobel Prize, Wiesel has been honored with a great many other awards and recognitions, chief among them the Janusz Korczak Humanitarian Award from Kent State University (1989), named for the Polish teacher and author of children’s books who chose to march into the gas chambers at Treblinka with his young students so that they would not have to die alone; the first Raoul Wallenberg Medal from the University of Michigan (1990), named for the Swedish diplomat who attended the university in the 1930’s and later saved more than one hundred thousand Hungarian Jews from the Nazis; and the first Primo Levi Award (1992), named for the Italian chemist/author and Auschwitz survivor whose writings have served as testimony to the atrocities of the Holocaust. In 2006, Wiesel was made an Honorary Knight of the British Empire, a title bestowed on him in recognition of his vital contribution to Holocaust education worldwide. Wiesel has also been honored by university chairs and distinguished service awards named for him at such prestigious institutions as the University of Haifa, the University of Florida, and Connecticut College.
Discussion Topics
How has the Holocaust affected Elie Wiesel’s life and his writing?
Why does Wiesel value friendship so much?
How would you describe Wiesel’s views about and relationship to God?
Why does Wiesel think questions are so important? Which questions seem most important to him, and why might that be the case?
Wiesel has been an important defender of human rights. Which rights do you think are most important to him?
Wiesel is opposed to indifference and neutrality. Why do you think he holds those positions?
Why does Wiesel think that the words “and yet . . . and yet” are among the most important in his vocabulary?
Bibliography
Abramowitz, Molly, comp. Elie Wiesel: A Bibliography. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974. Dated but still valuable annotated bibliography of works by and about Wiesel.
Berenbaum, Michael. Elie Wiesel: God, the Holocaust, and the Children of Israel. West Orange, N.J.: Behrman House, 1994. This reprint of The Vision of the Void, Berenbaum’s thoughtful 1979 study of Elie Wiesel, emphasizes Wiesel’s insights about Jewish tradition.
Berenbaum, Michael. The Vision of the Void: Theological Reflections on the Works of Elie Wiesel. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1979. Although discussing works published before 1979, this is an excellent study of the Jewish tradition as evident in Wiesel’s religious writings and sociocultural position. The bibliography on theological philosophy is quite useful.
Bloom, Harold, ed. Elie Wiesel’s “Night.” New York: Chelsea House, 2001. A collection of critical essays representing the spectrum of response to Wiesel’s memoir.
Brown, Robert McAfee. Elie Wiesel: Messenger to All Humanity. Rev. ed. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1989. A leading Christian theologian provides an important overview and interpretation of Wiesel’s multifaceted writing.
Cargas, Harry James. Conversations with Elie Wiesel. South Bend, Ind.: Justice Books, 1992. An updated and expanded edition of Cargas’s 1976 interviews with Wiesel, this important book features Wiesel speaking not only about the Holocaust but also about his audience, craft, and mission as a witness and writer.
Estess, Ted L. Elie Wiesel. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1980. Despite its brevity, this general introduction is well argued and often insightful.
Horowitz, Rosemary, ed. Elie Wiesel and the Art of Storytelling. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2006. This volume consists of an introduction, ten articles written by scholars of Wiesel’s work, and two essays about his autobiography, Night. The essays focus on the ways in which Wiesel’s cultural background has influenced his writing and how he maintains the Jewish storytelling tradition. However, this book is more than a collection of praises for Wiesel; it is a critical examination of his writing style and the content of his works.
Horowitz, Sara. Voicing the Void: Muteness and Memory in Holocaust Fiction. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. Contains a helpful discussion of Wiesel’s emphasis on the importance of memory.
Kolbert, Jack. The Worlds of Elie Wiesel: An Overview of His Career and His Major Themes. Snelinsgrove, Pa.: Susquehanna University Press, 2001. A useful starting point for Wiesel’s work. Combines biography with literary and philosophical analysis.
Mass, Wendy, ed. Readings on “Night.” New York: Greenhaven Press, 2000. Includes biographical chapters, a summary of the plot and characters of Wiesel’s book, and discussion of major themes, the author’s art, relationships in the novel, literary interpretation, and the legacy of the book.
Patterson, David. In Dialogue and Dilemma with Elie Wiesel. Wakefield, N.H.: Longwood Academic, 1991. In a series of fascinating interviews, Wiesel speaks not only about the Holocaust but also about his audience, his craft, and his mission as a writer and witness.
Patterson, David. The Shriek of Silence: A Phenomenology of the Holocaust Novel. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. Patterson’s book explores the distinctive ways in which Wiesel wrestles with the theme of silence as a feature of the Holocaust and its aftermath.
Rittner, Carol, ed. Elie Wiesel: Between Memory and Hope. New York: New York University Press, 1990. A balanced collection of provocative essays, written by scholars from different disciplines.
Rosen, Alan, ed. Celebrating Elie Wiesel: Stories, Essays, Reflections. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998. Distinguished scholars reflect on the ethical and religious dimensions of Wiesel’s essays and novels.
Rosenfeld, Alvin H., and Irving Greenberg, eds. Confronting the Holocaust: The Impact of Elie Wiesel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978. Including “Why I Write,” a significant essay by Wiesel, this volume contains a balanced collection of worthwhile essays written by scholars from varied disciplines.
Roth, John K., and Frederick Sontag. The Questions of Philosophy. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1988. Wiesel’s perspectives on the relationships among God, evil, and human responsibility are discussed in a chapter entitled “How Should I Deal with Evil and Death?”
Sibelman, Simon P. Silence in the Novels of Elie Wiesel. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. This study of a dominant theme in Wiesel is thorough, intelligent, and stimulating.
Stern, Ellen Norman. Elie Wiesel: Witness for Life. New York: Ktav, 1982. A fine and useful biography that deals more with the man than with his writings.
Wiesel, Elie, and Richard D. Heffner. Conversations with Elie Wiesel. Edited by Thomas J. Vinciguerra. New York: Schocken, 2001. A dialog between Wiesel and his interviewer. Offers the reader a wide-ranging discussion in which Wiesel touches on tolerance, nationalism, and state-endorsed killing.
