Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 in Transylvania. When he was fifteen years of age he and his family were deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz. His mother, father and sister all died in the concentration camps.
He was persuaded after the war to write about his experience in the camps of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. The result was his internationally acclaimed book Night.
He wrote over 50 books of fiction and non-fiction. The winner of many awards for his human rights activities, he won the 1986 Nobel Prize for peace.
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
The Nobel Peace Prize speech, 1986
Elie Wiesel died in 2016.