Elie Wiesel

The Lantos Foundation Remembers Professor Elie Wiesel

Katrina Lantos Swett Statement: "Professor Wiesel was a dear friend to the Lantos family and the Lantos Foundation and his passing is an inestimable loss to us all. He was indeed the moral conscience of the world and the Lantos Foundation was honored to have presented him with the Lantos Prize in 2010. 

Elie had remarked once that he was one of those who did not sleep well and that it was his duty to make sure the world also did not sleep too well but rather was kept in remembrance of the evil that could overtake us if we permitted our humanity and our moral conscience to slumber. In this conviction he was truly a "brother" to my late father Congressman Tom Lantos, another Hungarian Holocaust survivor and his close friend. In a very similar vein my father had said " The veneer of civilization is paper thin, we are its guardians and we can never rest".

Through his extraordinary writing, speaking and advocacy, Elie Wiesel reached deep into the heart of an often callous and casual world with a quiet insistence that we remember and that we act. Mingled with our sorrow at his passing is a profound gratitude for the life of this great man. Our world will not be the same without him - we promise him that we will "never rest"."

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NH residents remember holocaust survivor, author and activist Elie Wiesel's legacy By: Jennifer CurrierNH1.com

"Elie Wiesel was one of those beacons of light to us that helps us to remember that our job is important and we need to keep ever-vigilant in doing the things that we do.” - Denise Perron, Lantos Foundation Executive Director

Read full article on NH1news

Lantos Foundation Announces Recipient of 2010 Lantos Human Rights Prize

New York, NY, October 6, 2010 – The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice announced today that it will award the second annual Lantos Human Rights Prize to Professor Elie Wiesel for his unwavering commitment to the cause of human rights around the world.

The author of the internationally acclaimed memoir Night, which has been translated into more than thirty languages, Professor Weisel has received numerous awards for his literary and human rights activities. Soon after receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1986, he and his wife Marion established The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity to fight indifference, intolerance and injustice. Wiesel has defended the cause of Cambodian refugees, victims of famine and genocide in Africa, victims of apartheid in South Africa, victims of war in the former Yugoslavia and is currently bringing attention to the political and legal injustice in Russia evidenced by the wrongful imprisonment of former YUKOS Oil CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The Lantos Human Rights Prize is given annually to raise awareness about human rights and the brave individuals who are committed to fighting for them throughout the world. The prize also serves to commemorate Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress and a prominent advocate for human rights worldwide.

"Elie Wiesel embodies the spirit of the Lantos Human Rights Prize and the Foundation's mission, and we are pleased to be able to honor him and his contribution to the cause of human rights. He shares Tom's unwavering commitment to take the experiences of his youth and use them to fuel a passion for advancing human rights to all people. He is living proof that the powerful, eloquent voice of one man can help make the world a more tolerant and just place."

About the Lantos Foundation

The mission of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice is to strengthen the role of human rights in American foreign policy and to be a vital voice in standing up for our nation’s most important values of decency, dignity, freedom, and justice in every corner of the world.

The Award Ceremony will be held on November 17, 2010 in New York City. For more information, please contact the Lantos Foundation at 603-226-3636 or visit www.lantosfoundation.org.