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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=20514
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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: July 5, 2016 10:13 AM
From: Representative Dan Frankel
To: All House members
Subject: Resolution Honoring the Life of Elie Wiesel
 
In the near future, I will introduce a resolution honoring the extraordinary life of Auschwitz survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, who passed away July 2nd at the age of 87.

Elie Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928 in Sighet, Romania. He was just 15 when he was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland with his family. Elie was forced to work under harrowing conditions in the nearby labor camp of Buna alongside his father, eventually being transferred to a number of other camps before the end of World War II. Elie’s father died in 1945 at Buchenwald. Elie’s mother Sarah and younger sister Tzipora also perished in the Holocaust.

On April 11, 1945, Elie and other survivors at Buchenwald were liberated by the United States Third Army. He would later recount his experiences in Nazi occupied Europe in the chilling memoir, “Night.” When his town was rounded up and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, he wrote:

“One by one, they passed in front of me, teachers, friends, others, all those I had been afraid of, all those I could have laughed at, all those I had lived with over the years. They went by, fallen, dragging their packs, dragging their lives, deserting their homes, the years of their childhood, cringing like beaten dogs.”

“Night” has gone on to sell 10 million copies and has left an indelible mark on countless individuals around the world. All told, Wiesel wrote dozens of works of nonfiction and fiction, and was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades including the Nobel Peace Prize, the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and was knighted as Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed Wiesel chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Holocaust.

Elie Wiesel’s impact on this world cannot be downplayed. He put a human face on the millions of men, women and children killed during the Holocaust and promoted Holocaust education up to his death. It is for these reasons, and many others, that I invite all of my colleagues to co-sponsor my resolution honoring the life and astonishing legacy of Elie Wiesel.



Introduced as HR960