RIP Elie Weisel

Mostly unremarked in all the hoorah about Hillary "Bugsy" Clinton is the passing of Elie Weisel. A Holocaust survivor, Weisel emerged from Hitler's concentration camps to avidly pursue peace and do whatever he could to make sure that Jews never again had to experience the horrors that he and 6 million others did. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for his efforts, but it was no solace for his seared soul, as this example testifies:

“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 those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God himself. Never.”

May he now see these same little faces, fully alive in the radiance of God's glory, as he is, welcomed by God Himself through heaven's gates. His faith may have died but God's did not in him. 

www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/elie-wiesel-auschwitz-survivor-and-nobel-peace-prize-winner-dies-at-87.html?_r=0