Remarks on the Presentation of Honorary Knighthood to Elie Wiesel

This letter from Jacques Chirac to Elie Wiesel acknowledges an appeal launched by Wiesel for a large gathering of intellectuals worldwide against antisemitism and racism. Chirac expresses his strong conviction that racism and antisemitism are "true cancers" that must be eradicated, stating his absolute determination on this matter. He thanks Wiesel for his appeal, highlighting the essential duty of vigilance required from everyone. The letter concludes with Chirac's best regards to Elie Wiesel.

This letter, dated March 27, 2012, is an invitation from Ramu Damodaran, Officer-in-Charge of the Outreach Division, Department of Public Information at the United Nations, to Professor Elie Wiesel. It invites Professor Wiesel to speak at a panel discussion titled “The Trial of Adolf Eichmann: 50 Years Later,” scheduled for April 23, 2012, at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The event is organized by the United Nations Holocaust Outreach Programme in partnership with the State of Israel, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Eichmann trial. Minister Yossi Peled of Israel is slated to make opening remarks. Other panelists include Mark Ellis, Amos Hausner, and Deborah E. Lipstadt. Professor Wiesel is specifically asked to share his unique perspective as a Holocaust survivor who covered the trial for *The Forward*. The discussion aims to examine the trial from psychological, social, and legal perspectives, focusing on its influence on justice and accountability in the twenty-first century. Kimberly Mann is provided as a contact for further information.

This document is a letter from The White House, dated September 10, 2012, addressed to Professor Elie Wiesel. Signed by Barack Obama, with Michelle Obama also mentioned as a co-sender, the letter extends warm birthday wishes to Professor Wiesel. It acknowledges his significant work in mobilizing consciences globally and highlights his example as an inspiration for others to strive for self-improvement. The letter expresses a profound honor in considering Professor Wiesel a friend and conveys best wishes for the year ahead.

Charles Willner was born in 1926, in Dombrowa, Poland into a large, religiously observant family. His father was in the cattle business and a decorated Polish Army veteran. Charles describes anti-Jewish regulations after September 1939. In early 1940, when only 13 years old, he was sent to Pustkow labor camp and describes conditions there. In November 1940, he was held in Montelupich prison on a trumped-up charge. He was tortured and released after six weeks. While at Pustkow he was given passes by a German officer and was able to smuggle food to relatives in Dombrowa and Tarnow. He was caught and sentenced to die by German S.S., but another man was killed instead of him. Charles stayed in Pustkow until 1942 when he was transferred to Mielec, a Heinkel-Messerschmitt airplane factory. He describes the heavy labor and surviving typhoid. He also explains why most prisoners did not try to escape from Mielec. In 1944, prisoners were transferred to an underground salt mine then to Plaszow, near Krakow. He describes in detail his 11 weeks at Poliowa Gorka, a site of mass murders. Mounds of corpses they had to uncover and burn after their gold teeth had been extracted. He witnessed the execution of people caught crossing the border, random killings, and retaliation killings if anyone managed to escape. He describes how he survived by chance. In late 1944, after a stop in Gross Rosen, he arrived at Oscar Schindler’s ammunition factory in Brinnlitz where he remained until May 8, 1945 when the Russians liberated the camp. He testifies to Schindler’s protection of his workers and refers to acts of sabotage. He also speaks of his own attitudes toward Germans today and his pride in the State of Israel. After liberation in 1945 he searched for his family, encountered Polish antisemitism, including the murder of a fellow concentration camp survivor. He left Poland for Prague, then Munich. There he was united with his older brother, the only other survivor of his immediate family. With the help of Jewish agencies, the two remained in Germany. In May 1948, Charles Willner emigrated to the United States. He met his future wife, a survivor of Auschwitz, on the boat.

Daniel Levey, born April 24, 1925 in Sarajevo, was one of eight children in an impoverished Sephardic family who spoke Ladino at home. His father was a tailor and served in WWI under the Ottoman Empire. Daniel shares his childhood memories of their poverty and pre-war life. They lived in a Muslimneighborhood, where Daniel was assaulted by street gangs. His family attended the Sarajevo Synagogue, in a community of 15,000 Jews, who were forced into a ghetto after the German invasion in 1941. They had to wear an armband with the letter “Z” for Židov, the Croatian word for Jew. He did forced labor briefly in a military work crew, having been assigned to a skilled labor brigade because of his electrician experience. He evaded Nazi registration and stopped wearing his star. After he escaped from a roundup, he passed as a Muslim with an assumed name of Gerald Levvage [phonetic] and a false ID. He joined partisans fighting Germans and Russian Cossacks near Mostar, which was occupied by Italians. In 1942, he was captured and imprisoned at BokaKotorska. He describes humane treatment by the Italians. He got himself a job on kitchen duty and helped other prisoners by bringing them food. After Italy surrendered in 1943, the prison became a hospital where Daniel worked as a cook until he emigrated to Canada and then to the United States in 1948. He credits the Italians for saving him and other Jews from the brutal Croatian prison guards at Rab concentration camp. All of the Levey family, except for Daniel and one brother, who settled in Israel, perished in German camps.