Eisenhower to fill for Wiesel speech

As the lights dim and the crowd goes silent tonight, 70 would-be sociologists will sit in quiet anticipation. They will have gathered with hundreds of others, filling the auditorium to hear one man.

But unlike other audience members, the sociologists must attend this talk. Indeed, hearing Elie Wiesel speak is essential to their studies, said Sam Richards, who is requiring his Sociology 409 (Inequality in America) class to attend the speech.

"I teach about racism, both here in the United States and internationally," said Richards, senior lecturer of sociology. "And when we look at the World War II Holocaust, we're looking at racism."

Wiesel, who will speak at 8 p.m. today in Eisenhower Auditorium as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series, is a Holocaust survivor. Born in a Jewish community in Transylvania, Wiesel spent much of his childhood studying Judaism. However, his childhood was shattered when Nazis arrived in his village in 1944. A teenage Wiesel and members of his family were taken to concentration camps. Before the war ended, Wiesel lost his father, his mother and a sister.

For 10 years, Wiesel remained silent about his experiences. Then he began writing, authoring a thin volume called Night, a book that details his experiences in several concentration camps.

"It's (Night) very short and very much to the point," said Paul Rose, a mitrani professor of Jewish Studies and European History. "It's quite a profound book. It's nightmarish, really."

More books followed, and Wiesel began to earn international recognition. He used his reputation to speak on behalf of oppressed people around the world, earning the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.

"He is a product of the Holocaust," said Tuvia Abramson, executive director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. "He not only survived, but he flourished as a human being, as a writer, as a thinker and as a moral code for our generation. His writing and speaking continue to remind us that the Holocaust happened."

And it is the impact of Wiesel's writing and speaking that give him a lasting presence in higher education, Richards said.

"He's one of the people," he said, "who has been touched to return from the dead, literally, to teach us about love and compassion."