Remembering Wiesel
Elisha Wiesel’s essay, “Lessons From My Father” (June 9) was moving. His decision to step forward and further his father’s work helps the cause of remembrance, which was central to Elie Wiesel’s life.
The wise words spoken as Elie Wiesel came closer to his end were quintessential: “Just be.” I was reminded of Elie’s wisdom as we mark his first yahrzeit. Elisha was so fortunate to have the impossible love of his father. After all, it took impossible faith and stamina to survive the Holocaust.
I visited the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau with Elie Wiesel in June of 1979. We were on a fact-finding mission and the day was painful. Children of Holocaust survivors are haunted by the tragedy and misery of the mass murder of six million innocent Jewish victims. Elisha is the right person to carry the torch. It is genetic. Elisha’s presence at the recent tributes to his father at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Museum of Jewish Heritage added dignity to our sacred mission to never forget.
East Hampton, L.I.
(The writer was a member of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust and the first U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council).
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
