Marion Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, humanitarian, and translator of many of the works of her husband Elie Wiesel, died over the weekend at the age of 94.
“The curtain descends on a story, and lead character, for the ages,” Wiesel’s son, Elisha, wrote on social media Monday, confirming his mother’s passing.
Born Mary Renate Erster in Vienna in 1931, Wiesel fled with her mother across Europe and, according to the World Jewish Congress, was imprisoned at the Gurs concentration camp. Eventually, Wiesel escaped to Switzerland in 1942, according to the Holocaust Education Trust. She emigrated to the United States in 1949, where she later met her husband.
According to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, Wiesel joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People marched for civil rights, and spoke against segregation and discrimination in her new home country.
Wiesel translated 14 of her husband’s books from French to English, according to the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, including one edition of the Auschwitz death camp memoir Night. She wrote and produced the documentary Children of the Night, and produced television programs including The World of Elie Wiesel and The Oslo Concert: A Tribute to Peace.
The same year that Elie Wiesel won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, the couple used the prize money to found the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The foundation’s mission has since been to combat discrimination and injustice and promote international dialogue.
In 2001, Wiesel was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by then-US president Bill Clinton. Clinton said he awarded her the medal for her “mission of hope against hate, of life against death, of good over evil.”
Out of the experience of starvation, disease, and death, Wiesel “summoned the courage to commit her life to teaching others, especially children, about the human cost of hatred, intolerance, and racism,” said Clinton.
In the 1990s, the Wiesels founded the Beit Tzipora Centers to provide academic aid and empowerment to Israeli-Ethiopian children. The Women’s International Zionist Organization, which operates the centers, said in a Monday tribute to the survivor that the program provides “vital academic support to over 1,000 Ethiopian-born children each year.
“Her quiet strength and unwavering dedication left an indelible mark on the world,” said WIZO.
Recognition of achievements
The Wiesels received the World Jewish Congress’s Theodor Herzl Award in 2013 for their lifetime achievements, with the organization eulogizing on X/Twitter Tuesday that their work “aimed to overcome indifference toward the suffering of oppressed and marginalized populations around the world.
“She was instrumental in supporting her husband’s public career as a moral voice about the Shoah and bringing the Shoah into public consciousness,” said the WJC.
Elie Wiesel, Nazi concentration camp survivor, novelist, and human rights activist died in 2016 at the age of 87 and is remembered by many as one of the leading spokespeople for Holocaust education and awareness.
Jewish organizations, Israeli politicians, civil rights groups, and Holocaust memorial foundations gave tribute to Marion Wiesel this week after news of her passing broke.
Holocaust Educational Trust CEO Karen Pollock, March of the Living, the Anti-Defamation League, and The Florida Holocaust Museum called for “her memory to be a blessing” in separate statements.
“Mrs. Wiesel was integral to the soul of Holocaust remembrance, and her contributions changed the world,” the Florida Holocaust Museum said on X on Tuesday. “She will be greatly missed.”
The ADL said it was “grateful for her legacy and impact on the Jewish community” and called for her memory to be a reminder to commit to Holocaust remembrance.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said Wiesel’s “presence at the UN’s International Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony each year was a testament to her unwavering commitment to memory and truth.”