Eliezer Wiesel

"For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living. He has no right to deprive future generations of a past that belongs to our collective memory. To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."
-An excerpt from Night by Elie Weisel, published in 1958


Born in a small Jewish community in Sighnet, Transylvania in 1928 (now a part of Romania/Hungary) Elie Wiesel grew up like many young children around him, he attended religious classes, was active in his small town, and had a personal relationship with God. During the early years of World War II, Sighnet was left peaceful and Elie's family held the belief that their small town would be untouched by the German Nazis.

Although, that hope was crushed in 1944, when Elie was sixteen. The Nazis deported the Jewish families to Poland, where the Wiesel Family was separated. Elie and his father were pulled away from Eli's mother and three sisters; his mother and youngest sister later died in the gas chambers. During his stay in the camps, Elie witnessed horrors which made him question how God could ever be so cruel to those so innocent. He lost his faith in humanity. In January 1945 Wiesel witnessed his father's last day, heard his father's last word. He recollects this memory quite clearly:

"On my father's cot there lay another sick person. They must have taken him away before daybreak and taken him to the crematorium. Perhaps he was still breathing... No prayers had been said over his tomb. No candles lit in his memory. His last word has been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered."
Elie felt guilt over his father's death, but also a quiet sense of relief. He no longer had to worry about his father's wellbeing. He knew his father was no longer in pain. In the four months between his father's death and his freedom from the camps, Wiesel does not describe his life. He was no longer living, he was merely surviving. But in April of 1945 fate crept in and Elie was released back into the free world.

"I have tried to keep memory alive. I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are all accomplices."

After the liberation of the camps, Wiesel lived in France where, for ten years, he refused to speak of his life during the war. In 1955, at the counsel of a Catholic writer, Wiesel composed a 900 page memoir, And the World Kept Silent, which was first published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The book was then condensed into a 127-page memoir entitled "Night", which was published in 1958, with little success.

Elie Wiesel moved to New York and was granted American citizenship. He continued to write, finishing other autobiographical works such as Dawn and The Accident. Soon his writing was getting him international acclaim. He chose to visit the Soviet Union after an increased interest in the difficulties that other Jewish families faced during the war. After returning Wiesel dedicated himself to helping to liberate those all over the world who have suffered in similar situations.

In 1976 Elie became the Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University and in 1978 President Carter appointed him to Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Though one of his biggest achievement since surviving the death was in 1986 when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

Wiesel has authored over 36 works on the Holocaust, Judaism, and genocide, including "Night", a memoir of his time in Auschwitz, among other concentration camps.

To read a transcript of Elie Wiesel's Nobel Prize acceptance speech, please go here.

Sources:
Academy of Achievement
Elie Wiesel Biography Page
Jewish-American Hall of Fame
"Night" by Elie Wiesel

Timothy Treadwell (1957-2003)

"In a filmed scene of Timothy singing to a mother bear, flat on her back, with two cubs nursing on top of her, you imagined for a moment that she too enjoyed the song of gentleness. And you had no doubt that you were hearing a 'bear whisperer.'"
-Louisa Wilcox, close friend of Timothy Treadwell

Timothy Treadwell is best-known as a man who lived among bears. "Grizzly Man" as the documentary of his life claims. Many assumed him mentally insane, others saw him simply as strange. A controversial character, Timothy is rarely remembered for what he lived for, for what he died for; the safety and education of brown bears in Alaska.

For thirteen summers, Tim traveled to Katmai National Park in Alaska where he lived among the grizzlies. He called this place the "Grizzly Maze". He studied the bears intensely, often getting dangerously close to them. He gave each bear he met a unique name and often personified them. During these summer months, he would film himself with the bears, and has captured some of the best footage of grizzlies ever filmed. Timothy Treadwell never carried a firearm on him, never wanting to harm a bear even in the worst situation.

It is a common misconception that Timothy did not understand the danger he put himself in while living among the bears. He was not friends with all bears. He became wary of a bear he called "Demon", and was quoted saying "someone could die out here". He was very aware of his situation and despite not having a formal degree, Timothy had a vast knowledge of grizzlies. He understood that bears rarely attack, but they do, in fact attack, and when they do it is most often fatal. But his bond with the bears, he felt, was worth the risk.

A troubled young man, Timothy found peace and sobriety through nature and bears. He replaced his love of alcohol and drugs with a love of grizzlies and conserving their land. Timothy protected his bears and became territorial of them. In one scene in the movie "Grizzly Man", a documentary of Treadwell's life, Tim filmed visitors of the park throwing rocks at the bears. This angers Timothy bringing him close to tears. Although this may seem odd to many, his passion for protecting his beloved bears is admirable. He was able to recover from his drug problems simply by knowing that he could not be with the bears in an intoxicated state.

Timothy was so passionate about his work with the bears that he left his old life behind and dedicated himself to educating others. He often gave lectures to children in local schools, free of charge. His close friends describe him as one of the most poverty-ridden men they knew. He gave up his life, in more than one sense, for these grizzly bears.

"I will die for these animals. I will die for these animals. I will die for these animals."

Unfortunately, on October 5-6, 2003 Timothy and his girlfriend Amie were mauled to death on their last night in the Grizzly Maze. The only footage of the attack is an audio tape from Tim's camera; the lens cap left on. Due to the video being only audio, there are only speculations as to exactly what had happened that unfortunate night. Many guess that the vicious attack was brought on by a ravaged bear, desperate for food. Jewel Palovak, Timothy's best friend and a former girlfriend, owns most of Timothy's possessions, including the audio tape of his death. She has not made the tape public nor has she listened to it herself. No plans have been made to ever release the tape.

Although his body has left, his legacy and spirit live on in his foundation, Grizzly People, which is dedicated to protecting the bears and the land they claim.

Sources:
Katmai National Park
Grizzly People Tribute to Timothy Treadwell
Grizzly Man, 2005