The Simon Wiesenthal Center mourns the passing of Nobel Laureate and chronicler of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel

July 2, 2016

Statement by Rabbi Marvin Hier and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Founder & Dean and Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center:

Elie Wiesel was the voice of the Holocaust for tens of millions of people around the world. His stories about his horrific experiences as a child during the Shoah and his struggle to find meaning and hope after the Nazi Holocaust touched the lives of people everywhere. He was also an early champion of Soviet Jewry, helping to arouse the consciousness of American Jewry to rise in protest over the treatment of 3 million Jews who were on the verge of suffering a cultural genocide.

Dr. Wiesel also was unafraid of confronting the powerful when necessary—from urging international action in Cambodia or Bosnia to protesting President Reagan’s visit to a SS cemetery in Germany or denouncing President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. He Jewish moral voice will be sorely missed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).