Letter from Bill Clinton to Elie regarding a controversial speech on Gaza

This document is a draft speech intended for the decoration of Marion Wiesel, dated October 25, 2000. The speaker expresses pleasure in honoring Marion Wiesel, acknowledging her modesty and preference for action over recognition. The speech highlights her unwavering commitment to peace, dialogue, and combating hatred, notably through her role as Vice President of the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. It recalls her personal history as a Holocaust survivor, detailing her childhood experiences in Vienna, her escape through Europe, and time spent in internment camps. The speech praises her cultural contributions, particularly her translation work for her husband Elie Wiesel, and her poignant documentary, 'Les enfants de la nuit,' which aimed to bear witness to the plight of Jewish children deported by the Nazis. It also emphasizes her dedication to human rights, her organizational skills, and her work assisting Ethiopian Jews and providing educational support in Israel. The speaker concludes by conferring upon Marion Wiesel the title of Officer of the Legion of Honor on behalf of the President of the Republic.

Malvina Gerlich Eisner2 was born in Svidnika, Czechoslovakia, August 24, 1924. Her father was a grocer. She was the second of nine children. All of her siblings and her parents perished. She lived with her grandparents and went to school in Bardéjov. In 1942 Malvina and three cousins hid to escape the first roundup and transport. Later she hid in the woods and then in her grandparents’ apartment after their deportation. In June 1942 Malvina and her friends were reported to the police, arrested, and taken to Auschwitz and then Birkenau where she stayed until October 1944. She describes conditions in Auschwitz-Birkenau, brutal rollcalls, and selections. She worked as part of Kommandos (work groups) removing corpses, delivering food to the sick blocks, and picking up trash. She avoided a selection purely by chance. Malvina got very sick and survived because the other girls fed her and covered for her. She briefly describes Passover observance and a Seder at Auschwitz. She mentions transports arriving from Hungary constantly. Her group was taken to a camp in Hindenburg, run by the S.S. in the fall of 1944. As the Russian army approached, the inmates were evacuated on foot and in box cars to Bergen-Belsen. She was liberated by the British army on April 15, 1945. She is proud that she and the other girls preserved their humanity. She recites the names of her siblings and close family members who were murdered. Interviewee: EISNER, Malvina Gerlich Date: April 22, 1985

A handwritten thank-you note from Marion and Elie Wiesel to Shirley, dated March 3, 1993. The Wiesels apologize for the delay in sending the note, attributing it to a sequence of urgent priorities. They thank Shirley for her "lovely party" and compliment her on the friends she gathered, the excellence of the food, and the overall management. They also mention the unexpected absence of their "dear friend Abe" and express a wish to catch up with Shirley after her holiday in "The Sun." The note is signed "Fondly, E. + M."

Marion Wiesel writes to Monsieur François Delattre, the Ambassador of France, expressing her and her husband's disappointment at being unable to attend his gala honoring Christine Lagarde. She explains that their absence is due to their participation in a State Dinner at the White House for Shimon Peres on the same date. She asks Delattre to convey their regrets to Madame Lagarde and concludes with affectionate regards.

Individual was a Captain in the Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) of the United States Army during World War II. He entered Dachau Concentration Camp in April 1945, a few days after liberation, to interrogate Nazis who stayed behind because they wanted to be questioned by Americans not Russians. He was taken on a tour of Dachau and describes what he saw and heard, including accounts of atrocities inflicted on the prisoners, and what he learned during the interrogation, in gruesome detail. He mentions how the experience of seeing Dachau affected him and the other men in his unit. He reported to his commanding officer in Munich. He was assigned to a Displaced Persons camp at Coburg, Germany. He describes poor conditions at the camp, nightly searches, the treatment of survivors, and briefly mentions a riot at the camp in 1946. He explains why he feels that the displaced persons could have been treated more humanely and how these experiences affect him still.