Who Was Elie Wiesel's Father
Elie Wiesel's father was Chlomo Wiesel, a shopkeeper and community leader from Sighet, Romania, later Hungary. He was deported with his family to Auschwitz in May 1944, where his wife and youngest daughter were killed. Chlomo and his two eldest sons, Elie and Haim, were transferred to Buchenwald in January 1945, where Chlomo died weeks before the camp was liberated by U.S. forces on April 11, 1945.
Chlomo Wiesel was born around 1880 and lived most of his life in Sighet. He was respected in the Jewish community and worked as a merchant. After the German occupation of Hungary in 1944, he was forced into the Sighet ghetto and then deported. His death in Buchenwald is documented in Elie Wiesel's memoir Night and other historical records of the Holocaust.
How Did Elie's Father Die
Chlomo Wiesel died of starvation, dysentery, and exhaustion in Buchenwald in late January or early February 1945. He had been selected for deportation from Auschwitz to Buchenwald during a death march in January 1945. In Buchenwald, he was too weak to work and was beaten by camp guards. He was buried in a mass grave at the camp, and his exact date of death is not precisely recorded.
The cause of death was primarily malnutrition and disease, common among prisoners in the final months of the war. Elie Wiesel wrote that his father was beaten on the head by an SS officer for asking for water. Chlomo Wiesel's death is one of the most documented personal losses in Holocaust literature, and his story is referenced in numerous survivor testimonies and historical studies of concentration camp conditions.
Historical Context and Legacy
Chlomo Wiesel's death occurred during the final months of World War II, as Nazi Germany collapsed and camps were evacuated. The SS forced prisoners on death marches westward to avoid liberation by Allied forces. Buchenwald, where Chlomo died, was one of the largest concentration camps in Germany, holding tens of thousands of prisoners, including Elie Wiesel and his father.
The legacy of Chlomo Wiesel's death is tied to the broader history of the Holocaust and the survival of his son, Elie Wiesel, who became a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and global advocate for human rights. Elie Wiesel's account of his father's death in Night has been translated into more than 30 languages and is one of the most widely read Holocaust memoirs. The story is also referenced by institutions such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem, which document the experiences of Holocaust victims and survivors.
Key Facts About Chlomo Wiesel's Death
Chlomo Wiesel was deported from Sighet to Auschwitz in May 1944 and later transferred to Buchenwald in January 1945. He died of starvation and disease before the camp was liberated on April 11, 1945. His son Elie Wiesel described the loss in Night and in later interviews, emphasizing the brutality of the camp system and the personal toll of the Holocaust on families.
Sources and Further Reading
For more information on Elie Wiesel and the Holocaust, see the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum at https://www.ushmm.org and the Nobel Prize biography of Elie Wiesel at