US Ambassador Klemm says Elie Wiesel is pure expression of ideals which we aspire to

Ambassador of the US in Bucharest Hans Klemm stated on Tuesday that Elie Wiesel represents the pure expression of the ideals which we aspire to and encouraged the audience to take his example and values in order to allow tolerance to develop throughout the world.

Hans Klemm stated that Elie Wiesel represents the pure expression of the ideals we aspire to, namely defending the vulnerable people against the wicked ones, the courage to speak freely even if others don't do it and the vision of a world that gladly welcomes others. At the unveiling ceremony of the 1986 Nobel Laureate's bust in Bucharest, the US Ambassador encouraged those attending the event to take Elie Wiesel as an example and his values during hard times and work together in order to allow tolerance and acceptance to further spread and develop throughout the world.

In her turn, General Mayor of Bucharest Gabriela Firea paid homage to Elie Wiesel, for being "a fighter for peace, humanity, tolerance, love and good understanding between people."

Ambassador of the State of Israel in Bucharest Tamar Samash said that Elie Wiesel was a true messenger of humanity, as he was called by the Nobel Committee and evoked, among others, through the writer's words, the hell of those pushed into the abyss of Holocaust.

US sculptor Marc Mellon, the one who created the bust of Elie Wiesel, encouraged the audience to preserve the writer's memory.

Director of the "Elie Wiesel" Institute Alexandru Florian conveyed a message from Wiesel's son, in which he encourages Romanians to be responsible about the manner in which they educate their children, wanting for Romania to be known as a country where foreigners are greeted with warmth and receive shelter, because this way, the national heritage will be enriched. 

Numerous figures of the Romanian political, diplomatic and cultural environment attended the unveiling ceremony of Elie Wiesel bust, organised by the Bucharest City Hall, with the support of the "Elie Wiesel" National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust. 

The bust, which was created by sculptor Marc Mellon was donated to the Bucharest City Hall by the "Elie Wiesel" National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust. 

The event was included in the series of activities dedicated to the commemoration of the Holocaust Remembrance Day in Romania - 9 October.

Born in Sighetu Marmatiei on 30 September 1928 and deceased on 2 July in New York, Elie Wiesel was a survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. He was a Romanian-born American Jewish writer, philosopher and journalist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1986, honorary member of the American Academy of Art and Letters and honorary member of the Romanian Academy.