Preface

The work and message of Auschwitz survivor, writer, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) represents an outstanding, unique, and highly significant contribution to the memory of the Holocaust and the fight against anti-Semitism. Elie Wiesel has had a lasting global impact on the culture of remembrance from the 1950s to the present day. Only through academic examination can Elie Wiesel's works and lessons be made accessible to present and future generations as a didactic tool for building a culture of remembrance and combating the emerging trend of Anti-Semitism in Germany.

As the only institute in the world directly and exclusively dedicated to the research of Elie Wiesel's work, the Elie Wiesel Research Center at the University of Tübingen, with the support of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation, has produced and published the present complete bibliography.

Sources

In compiling a comprehensive bibliography, or as complete a bibliography as possible, the Boston University (BU) Inventory was evaluated for the first time along with relevant, but dated, bibliographies by Molly Abramowitz (1974), Irving Abrahamson (1985) and Betty Bigelbach (1988). This inventory was kept by Elie Wiesel's assistant during his time at BU and was intended for internal use only. Until today, it has never been published.

The inventory was only given to Reinhold Boschki in 2019 during his research trips to Boston and research in the Elie Wiesel Archive. The gift was largely facilitated by his well-maintained working relationship with Elisha Wiesel. The BU inventory was critically reviewed for the compilation of the complete bibliography and converted into a scientific classification system. The author's research supplemented any missing bibliographic details for individual titles. Furthermore, extensive research was conducted at the Elie Wiesel Archive, the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum archives.

Structure

The complete bibliography, which is arranged chronologically and alphabetically, spans from 1956 to 2021 and is divided into two main parts. The first part lists all of Elie Wiesel's identified and attested publications, beginning with his first work, the autobiographical Yiddish memoir Un di Welt hot geschwign which was later condensed into Wiesel's best-known publication, Night. Accordingly, the bibliography begins with Wiesel's autobiographies before turning to Wiesel's literary writings, such as novels and dramas, his biblical Talmudic Hasidic writings, and his essayistic works. The bibliography ends with Wiesel's published work, such as speeches, interviews, and open letters. The second section contains a comprehensive and up-to-date list of specialized literature. The bibliography is constantly being updated, as it is not yet complete.

Perspective

In the future, a complete digital bibliography and an Elie Wiesel portal will be created in cooperation with the University Library of Tübingen and Dr. Alan Rosen, Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, and the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies. This bibliography will include printed and handwritten source material from Elie Wiesel, which will be scanned, cataloged, transcribed from Yiddish or Hebrew (if necessary), and made publicly accessible to enable future research, preserve Elie Wiesel’s lessons for future generations, and support the development of a digital culture of remembrance. The Elie Wiesel Research Center is currently evaluating archives of the Hebrew journal Jedioth Aharonot and the Yiddish journal Zion im Kampf. So far, Elie Wiesel's letters from the early period have gone entirely unnoticed and have yet to be evaluated. Notably, this includes the approximately 1200 letters Wiesel sent to his close friend and colleague, Dow Judkowski, publisher of Yedioth Aharonot, with whom he shared the origins of his early work.

Download: Complete bibliography of Elie Wiesel