Letter from Daniel Bovet to Elie Wiesel regarding a science conference and historical reflections

The document is a New Year's greeting card from King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan for the year 2007-2008. The front cover features Arabic calligraphy by the artist Hassan Massoudy with an Islamic prayer for peace: "Oh God, you are peace and from you is peace, so greet us, our Lord, with peace." The inside of the card contains a family photograph of King Abdullah, Queen Rania, and their four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma, and Prince Hashem. Alongside the photo is a bilingual greeting in Arabic and English: "Wishing you a blessed New Year filled with love and peace." The card is signed by both King Abdullah and Queen Rania. The back indicates it is from "The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" for "2007-2008".

This document is a printed record commemorating the 1983 International Literary Peace Prize awarded to Elie Wiesel. It includes an overview of the prize's history, speeches, and messages from various dignitaries and organizations involved in the award ceremony held in Liège on April 23, 1983. Key individuals whose contributions are featured include Antoine Longueville (founder of the prize), Georges Sion (President of the Jury), William Ugeux (President of the Resistance Network Chiefs Committee), and Elie Wiesel himself, whose acceptance message reflects on the responsibility of survivors to bear witness and the enduring pursuit of peace amidst global conflicts. The document emphasizes the role of literature and human fraternity in promoting justice, democracy, and disarmament.

This letter, dated January 22, 1988, is from Professor I. Prigogine to Elie Wiesel. Prigogine expresses his sincere gratitude for the hospitality extended to him and his wife during a conference at the Elysée, which was organized by President Mitterrand and Wiesel. He emphasizes the importance of the meeting in fostering strong connections between political power and the research community, noting the conference's significant success. Looking ahead, Prigogine proposes two conditions for any future meetings: the need for a precise and well-prepared subject, and the importance of inviting specialists, including Nobel laureates and experts from organizations like the United Nations or UNESCO, especially when discussing topics such as technology transfer to the Third World or North-South cultural polarity. He suggests that the distinction between Nobel laureates and non-laureates should not be the basis for selecting participants.

This letter, dated January 21, 1979, is from an anonymous sender to his friend, Eli. The sender expresses surprise and concern over a request from an IDF NCO in the Golan Heights for a lecture on the Holocaust, where the NCO preferred a focus on heroism over suffering, reflecting what the sender sees as a problematic societal view. The sender then describes his disappointment with "Arad" (likely from Yad Vashem), who, despite holding many valuable, unpublished autobiographical and literary works from ghettos and camps, prioritizes a multi-volume historical account of the Holocaust over their preservation. The sender had proposed an educational project incorporating literature, theology, art, and music, but felt Arad was more interested in personal fame. The sender also reveals his personal struggles, including physical and mental fatigue due to various jobs, hindering his ability to work on his own book, "A Jew Today." He urgently requests Eli's help in incorporating him into a project and inquires about Eli's upcoming sabbatical and visit to Israel.

This letter, dated October 29, 1980, is from David H. Hirsch (Chairman, Department of English) and Eli Pfefferkorn (Visiting Associate Professor) to James Silberman of Simon & Schuster, Inc. The authors propose a collection of original critical essays focusing on Elie Wiesel's fiction. They highlight that their proposed collection would concentrate on aesthetic problems and the inherent conflict between bearing witness and aesthetic values in Wiesel's work, differentiating it from existing, more unfocused collections. They also mention having discussed the project with Elie Wiesel himself, who finds it feasible and worthwhile. The letter indicates that curricula vitae and other identifying materials are enclosed.