NEW YORK – Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday, Nov. 25, awarded The State of Israel’s Presidential Medal of Distinction to Nobel Laureate and esteemed author and activist, Elie Wiesel.
The medal, which is the highest civilian honor in the State of Israel, is bestowed by the President onto individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the State of Israel or to humanity.
“Elie Wiesel has made a mark on humankind through his international public service, making a unique contribution to safeguarding the memory of the Holocaust and the transmission of a powerful message of peace and human dignity to the world at large,” President Peres said. “Elie made from a memory, a warning; from a tragedy, a hope. He said ‘you can kill not just by rifles and not just by gas, but by indifference.’ He is trying to save the world from indifference.”
Wiesel is best known for authoring, Night, an internationally-acclaimed memoir that tells the story of Wiesel’s incredible struggle to survive Nazi death camps during the Holocaust. Wiesel’s memoir, which was first published in Yiddish in 1956 and then in French in 1958 under the title La Nuit, before being released in English in 1960, has been translated into multiple languages and distributed throughout the world. Night is internationally renowned as a ground-breaking account of the appalling, inhumane experience for millions of Jews and other victims of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
Wiesel has won numerous literary awards for both his fiction and non-fiction work, and has established himself as a prominent voice in the international community, speaking out against human rights violations around the world. He has been granted the highest honors from several nations, including receiving the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President Peres has also received, and the French Legion of Honor’s Grand Croix. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and soon after founded the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity with his wife, Marion. The Foundation’s mission, according to its website, is, “to combat indifference, intolerance and injustice through international dialogue and youth-focused programs that promote acceptance, understanding and equality.”
“I am deeply moved to be here with you,” Wiesel said. “Now I feel like I am an honorary Israeli, with this honor that you have given me. Israel has been a center of my life. I don’t live in Israel, but Israel lives in me, and has lived in me since my childhood. And therefore to be with you on this special occasion, it is meaningful. I cannot tell you the depth of my gratitude.”
Said President Peres: “A single man that went through the most terrible experience a person can go through, did not lose his humanity, or his strength, or his depth, or his message. And for that reason he is respected by every person who cares, who worries, who hopes. For me, it is a distinct privilege to offer you this award on behalf of all of Israeli people.”
The Presidential Medal of Distinction was first conferred in February 2012. Past recipients include U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Chabad Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael (Steinsaltz).
The purpose of the award is to enable the President of Israel to express his appreciation and esteem to deserving individuals, while at the same time use the distinction as a means to motivate others to contribute their talents and efforts for the well-being of the State of Israel and to “Tikunn Olam,” improving the world.
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Preceding provided by Israel’s Consulate-General in New York