Directions: Read the following article on what happened to Elie Wiesel after his liberation from the camp. Then, answer the questions that follow.

After Liberation

Many of the prisoners who had been in the German concentration camps were near death. Elie himself had to be hospitalized for a while. During that time, he wrote an outline for a book about his life in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. He waited ten years before deciding whether to try to have the book published.

Once released from hospital Elie, not quite seventeen years old, was taken in by a Jewish-French charity devoted to helping children of the Holocaust. Most countries were not willing to help the refugees, especially as so many had health issues. Only Norway opened its doors to all. Elie was overjoyed to be reunited with his older sisters who had also survived.

In 1948 Elie began his studies at the Sorbonne, an excellent French university. He held down several jobs to pay for his studies. He soon mastered the French language and, faithful to his love of writing, became a journalist, writing in French. He also wrote in Hebrew for an Israeli newspaper and learned English on a working trip to India – his assignment was a comparative piece on world religions.

By 1954 enough time had elapsed since the Holocaust and Elie Wiesel was ready to work on his final version of the manuscript about his experiences during WWII. Originally published in French as La Nuit, it appeared in 1958 and was dedicated to his late parents and younger sister. In 1960 the book was translated into English and Wiesel’s writing career took off. He wrote novels, plays, and non-fiction and dedicated a lot of his time to activism, fighting for the rights of those oppressed by others. He publicized the oppression of Russian Jews and pressured the then Soviet Union to let them emigrate. He also fought against apartheid in South Africa.

Elie Wiesel immigrated to the United States inthe 1950’s. He later married another Holocaust survivor and they named their son for his father. He continued writing and his involvement with activism, and taught at several universities. Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He passed away on July 2, 2016 in New York City.