Write An Essay On Elie Wiesel's Life

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Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet Romania on September 30th 1928 to Shlomo and Sarah Wiesel. Wiesel has three sisters two older, Hilda and Bea and one younger, Tsiporah. His town of Sighet was a small Jewish town often called a shetetl that was in the Transylvanian part of Romania. Here he lived until he was fifteen when he and his family were taken by the Germans.
Wiesels childhood in Sighet was a generally happy one, it was a strong community that taught him to care for others and to commit to Judaism absolutely. Wiesel reflects that though his somewhat poor childhood he found great richness in his religion. His family taught him his values of caring for others however also led him to be a rather lonely child who found solace in reading and learning more and more of Judaism. One family member who greatly impacted Wiesels life what his grandfather Dodye Feig. Feig was a Hasidic Jew who believed that piety should be placed over knowledge in seeking to become close to God. Feigs presence in Wiesels life led him to believe the Hasidic approach that love and kindness to god and to others is key in knowing god. Wiesels religion has had a tremulous …show more content…

At first the Germans were kind to the townspeople and shared pleasantries with them. Soon though the Jews of Sighet were told that they must wear the yellow star of David to identify them as Jews. Once identified the Germans pushed for the Jews to be brought into ghettos leaving their homes behind. For a while the Jews stayed in the ghettos with little idea as to what would follow. In may of 1944 German officers came to Jewish ghettos and began the process of loading people into cattle cars to be taken to concentration camps. During the roundups Wiesels family maid Maria attempted to save his family and persuade them to hid with her in the mountians. Despite Marias best efforts the Wiesels decided to stay in order to stay with their community and

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