Letter from Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to Elie Wiesel regarding antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance in Hungary

This is a letter from the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, dated December 19, 2014, addressed to Professor Elie Wiesel. The letter informs Professor Wiesel that the University's Senate, following the motion of the Faculty of Philosophy and after receiving nihil obstat from the Congregation for Catholic Education and positive reviews from professors Andrzej Zoll and Łukasz Kamykowski, has decided to confer upon him the title of doctor honoris causa. The university expresses its pleasure and trust that Professor Wiesel will accept the honorary doctorate, and it looks forward to the official ceremony. The letter is signed by the Rector, Rev. prof. dr hab. Wojciech Zyzak, and the Vice Rector, Rev. prof. dr hab. Józef Stala.

This is a letter from David Weinstein, Chancellor of Spertus College of Judaica, to Mrs. Marion Wiesel, dated April 3, 1984. The letter informs Mrs. Wiesel that the Board of Trustees, upon the recommendation of the Faculty, has unanimously voted to confer upon her the degree of Doctor of Hebrew Letters, honoris causa, at the 56th Commencement Exercises of the College on June 10, 1984. Chancellor Weinstein emphasizes the significance of her presence at the Commencement, highlighting her 20 years of service to the Jewish and general communities of metropolitan Chicago. He commends her contributions to scholarship, culture, and community service, noting that the Wiesel name is identified with quality and excellence. The letter concludes by requesting her acceptance of this honor and a brief response.

Alan Spiegel was born August 11, 1903 in Orahovicza, Yugoslavia into a wealthy Zionist family. He details his family history in Hungary including his grandfather being a Second Adjutant during the Hungarian Revolution. Mr. Spiegel studied medicine at Budapest University. He discusses the difficulty for Jewish students to be admitted due tonumerus clausus policy and that he was dismissed in 1920, three months before graduation by a prejudiced faculty. An ardent Zionist, he then worked for the Jewish National Fund while employed in a family business. In 1932, he married Elizabeth Boschan, in Cluj, Romania, where they lived until 1939. In Budapest, he had to serve as a slave laborer under the Hungarians. Mr. Spiegel gives testimony about working with Rezsö Kastner and Joel Brand to exchangethe release of over 1,000 Jews to Switzerland for money in 1944 and how he found out from one of the more humane German officers that their transport was destined for Auschwitz even though they paid. He details how he arranged to bribe other SS to have the transport sent to Bergen-Belsen instead. Two months later, a smaller group of 350 was sent to Switzerland of which he and his family were a part. He discusses how Kastner was condemned in Palestine for his actions. Mr. Spiegel also shares a vignette about how he secured the release of hundreds of Jewish boys and how small meaningful occurrences helped him have the strength to continue his work. He also relates memories about theVizhnitzerRebbe. In 1947, Spiegel emigrated from Switzerland to the United States with his wife and daughter.

This is a letter dated October 18, 2002, from Lawrence H. Summers, President of Harvard University, to Professor Elie Wiesel of Boston University. Summers thanks Wiesel for a thoughtful letter sent on September 30, expressing appreciation for Wiesel's kind words concerning Summers' remarks on anti-Semitism. Summers concludes by hoping their paths will cross again soon and sends best wishes.

A letter from Barack Obama, dated November 18, 2013, expressing his pleasure in honoring Elie and Marion Wiesel. He commends their decades-long efforts to expose injustice and promote understanding, acceptance, and resistance to intolerance. The letter highlights their personal suffering and dedication to cultivating humanity's best through education and activism, ensuring the message of "never again" is a call to action. Obama concludes by acknowledging their profound impact and inspiration worldwide.