The applause began before he uttered a single word.

Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel was welcomed by a standing ovation at the Memorial Hall stage, where he spoke about his writing and experiences during World War II as a Holocaust survivor, on Monday morning.

Wiesel spoke about memory and how important it is for students to bear witnesses to the witnesses – in this case those who survived the state sanctioned extermination of Jews – ¬¬to perpetuate stories of the past. As he clutched the sides of the podium and looked out into the large auditorium, he told the listeners about his own experiences with memory.

“I live with memory. But it doesn’t mean the sadness of memory has invaded my life,” Wiesel said. “I tell people life is worth living. Good has as much power as evil. It may be less seductive ¬¬but it’s certainly more creative. It is possible for hope to become reality.”

Preceding Wiesel’s speech to the crowd of students, faculty and staff, was a screening of the documentary “Boys of Buchenwald,” which features Wiesel as one of about a thousand young boys liberated from the concentration camp on April 11, 1945. The film showed the friendships the survivors developed through the years, up until the film was released in 2005.

“I thought the documentary was excellent. I really liked how they brought the members back for a reunion,” senior Ali Dominquez said. “It was one of the greatest Chapman events I’ve ever gone to. I’m glad Chapman has the resources to bring someone like that here.”

At the end of Wiesel’s lecture, assistant professor of Wilkinson College Jan Osborn read pre-submitted questions aloud to Wiesel and he responded to the individual students who stood up when their questions were asked. When someone asked a question about Armenian genocide, Wiesel looked up into the balcony where the student stood and responded that everyone deserved the right to remember.

Wiesel was born an Orthodox Romanian Jew in Sighet, Transylvania, and in 1944 was deported to the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was later sent to a concentration camp called Buchenwald, from which he was liberated in 1945. Wiesel is most known for his book “Night,” but has written more than 50 books. Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

“I’ve gotten several really positive e-mails from students and faculty about how they found his talk very powerful,” said Marilyn Harran, Stern chair in Holocaust education at Chapman and director of the Rodgers Center. “He may have a special feeling for Chapman. It really moved him to see that the auditorium was almost all filled with students. He really believes there must be witnesses to the witnesses and I think as a survivor he feels a sense of obligation to make that personal connection.”

As Wiesel stepped off the stage to another standing ovation, the crowd was left with Wiesel’s answer to the question “How can a single person change the world?” ringing in their ears.

“Be yourself, don’t worry. Just speak, even if your words fall on deaf ears,” he said. “Sooner or later people will listen. If not some, then at least one. If not one, I will be here.”


Contact this reporter: taylor.johnson@thepantheronline.com