Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor and Author, Dead at 87

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor whose classic book Night became a testament to the horrific crimes committed by Nazis' during World War II, has died at age 87.

His death was confirmed in a statement by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No other details were immediately available.

"Today, we mourn with all who consider themselves part of the Elie Wiesel family, and honor the legacy of one of the great moral leaders of our time," Gordon Robertson, CEO of the Christian Broadcast Network, said.  "His book, Night, gave voice to the 6 million Jews who died during the Holocaust. May we always remember them for 'to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."

"We live in an age when violence and racism continue to characterize much of the world and in a time when the Jewish people still face threats to their very existence. In memory of Elie Wiesel, let us have the courage to speak up against evil and to never forget," he added.

Wiesel's long career as one of the world's witness and humanitarian can be summed up in this mission: "Whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented," he said when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. 

For more than a half-century, he voiced his passionate beliefs to world leaders, celebrities and general audiences in the name of victims of violence and oppression. He wrote more than 40 books, but his most influential was Night, a classic ranked with Anne Frank's diary as standard reading about the Holocaust.

"Elie Wiesel awoke the world's conscience to the horror of the Holocaust. May we not forget him, his message of peace and human dignity, and the responsibility he has left each of us to defend the oppressed," Dr. Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said.  

In one especially haunting passage, Wiesel summed up his feelings upon arrival in Auschwitz.

"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. ... Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

Wiesel's efforts to defend the oppressed reached far beyond Holocaust victims and survivors. He defended Soviet Jews, Nicaragua's Miskito Indians, Cambodian refugees, the Kurds, victims of African famine and victims of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Wiesel was a longtime supporter of Israel although he was criticized at times for his closeness to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

"What would the world look like without Elie Wiesel? Indifferent, callous, ignorant. Let us celebrate Wiesel's life today, who like a piercing alarm jolted us from our stupor to reconsider mankind's sense of morality," said Rev. Samuel Rodriquez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. "His legacy calls us to trumpet justice in this increasingly dark world."

"We have lost a man of great courage in Elie Wiesel,” Greg Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship, said. "Perhaps, today more than ever we need men and women like him, who will wake up the world's conscience and speak up for innocent human life, which is God's first gift to us. 

"The world grieves a great man who took all of his personal pain and tried his best to use it for our collective good," he said.