Elie Wiesel

1. Elie Wiesel Sahar Tufail Period 2 2/29/12

2. How do we define the personality traits of a hero? • Hero: a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities ("Hero”). • A hero is someone whom is looking and acting on their fair share of heroism (Castagnera). • A hero is somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people. A hero to me is someone who saves people and who really deeply cares (Mazar). A hero is a person whom is… • Unselfish • Shows courage • Overcomes obstacles • Helps save peoples lives • Do what they think is right • Perseverance

3. How does the setting, conflicts, and antagonists influence the development of Elie Wiesel? • Holocaust: Systematic murder and of about six million Jews by the Nazi and its collaborators (“Introduction to the Holocaust”). • January 30, 1933, Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, to May 8, 1945 (V-E Day), which was the end of the war in Europe. • During this time period, the Germans had targeted mainly Jews but also, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's witnesses, communists, socialists and even the disabled. • At first, Jews weren’t allowed to go to the movie theaters, be out on a certain time, they had to wear a yellow star to indicate the fact that they were Jewish. • After all these “little” steps, the holocaust had begun.

4. How does the setting, conflicts, and antagonists influence the development of Elie Wiesel? Continued… • During the holocaust, people were tortured continuously. Nazi’s would…. • Separate Jewish families • Put them in gas chambers • Burned them alive • Starve them to death, would give them only two small meals a day which would usually be soup with bread • Work them to death, they would have to work most of the day with little rest. They would rest in barracks, which were extremely closed together beds with no mattresses, blankets, pillows, nothing at all. • Jew’s would be experimented with for treatments and medicine. • Jew’s would be tattooed with a number making it as if they were property. • Sent to concentration camps (“The Holocaust”)

5. How does a hero reflect his/her particular culture and society? • Elie Wiesel represents the Jewish society due to the fact Wiesel is Jewish himself. He represents one of the six million estimated whom had endured the Holocaust (“Elie Wiesel”). • Also Elie Wiesel had grown up in a tight knit Jewish community of Signet in Transylvania, where he went to a Jewish school and studied religion, he represented an average Jewish child (“Holocaust Survivor Storyteller”).

6. How does Elie Wiesel represent his time period and geographical area? • Elie Wiesel is one of the many important faces that represent the holocaust (time period) in Europe (geographical area). • This is because Elie Wiesel was in the holocaust and endured many horrible events during the time period (“Introduction to the Holocaust”). • He also is the chairman for the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and also has foundation called the Elie Wiesel Foundation that fights intolerance, indifference and injustice (“Elie Wiesel”).

7. How do various cultures reward or recognize their heroes? • Various cultures reward or recognize Elie Wiesel by rewriting his French novel La Nuit into 30 different languages (“Elie Wiesel- Best Selling Author of Night”). • Elie Wiesel received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 which recognizes people from different cultures for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace (“Elie Wiesel”) .

8. How does the hero’s childhood affect his or her life now? • Elie takes his childhood life and puts his stories into various books such as Night(“Night”). • He also has many different foundations such as The Elie Wiesel Foundation For Humanity which promote acceptance, equality, and understanding. • He speaks throughout the world to help people understand the struggles he went through during the Holocaust (“Elie Wiesel”).

9. What sort of challenges did the hero face? Elie Wiesel faced many different obstacles in the holocaust such as… • Being separated from his mother and sisters. • Being sent to a concentration camp • Watched his father get beat constantly • Having to walk in the freezing cold with little to no clothing and not having much to eat • Watching his father die in front of his eyes • Seeing children getting burned • Being starved almost to death (Wiesel, Night) "I was a body. Perhaps less than that even: a starved stomach. The stomach alone was aware of the passage of time.“ (Wiesel, pg 50)

10. How did the hero prepare themselves to overcome the obstacles they had to take on? • Elie Wiesel had stayed strong only because his faith in God; even though most times he had felt as if there was no God. He had lost himself several times but throughout his lifetime he always found a way back (“Elie Wiesel Relationship with God”). • He also stayed strong during the Holocaust because of his father, he knew he had to stay strong for him or they would both die there(“Elie Wiesel”).

11. What does the hero do to remain a hero now? • He continues to write books about his horrific stories during the holocaust to inform people about what he had endured (“Books by Elie Wiesel”). • He speaks throughout the world to educate people about peace. • He has various organizations called The Elie Wiesel Foundation and has been rewarded various times for his heroic actions, awards as high as the Nobel Peace Price (“Elie Wiesel”).

12. Works Cited • "36 Questions About the Holocaust (1-18)." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2012. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/36quest1.html>. • Castagnera, James . "What is a Hero? ." American Association for Higher Education & Accreditation. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/heroes.htm>. • Douglas, Robert E., and Jr.. "Elie Wiesel's Relationship with God." Space Telescope Science Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. <http://www.stsci.edu/~rdouglas/publications/suff/suff.html>. • " Elie Wiesel ." :::Neco.org:::. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://neco.org/awards/recipients/e.wiesel.html>. • "Elie Wiesel." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007176>. • "Elie Wiesel Bio." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/holo/eliebio.htm>. • "Elie Wiesel Biography -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/wie0bio-1>. • "Elie Wiesel Timeline and World Events: 1928-1951." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007200>.

13. Works Cited; Continued… • "Hero." Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hero>. • "Hero Quotes - BrainyQuote." Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/hero.html>.  • "Hutchinson's Biography Database ." EBSCO-MAS Ultra - School Edition. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=32238105&site=ehost-live>. • "Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143>. • Schoenberg, Shira. "Elie Wiesel." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Wiesel.html>. • "The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity." The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org/eliewiesel.aspx>. • Wiesel, Elie. "Elie Wiesel - Biography." Nobelprize.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1986/wiesel-bio.html>. • Wiesel, Elie. Night. Bantam ed. New York: Bantam Books, 1982. Print