According to the world’s most famous Holocaust survivor, there is a difference between being mentally ill and “morally ill.” In 2007, Elie Wiesel stepped into an elevator at the Hotel Argent in San Francisco where he was scheduled to speak at a peace conference. A young man named Eric Hunt got into the elevator with Wiesel. Eric Hunt wanted answers to some questions about the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel told a reporter recently that he does not think that Eric Hunt’s problem is mental illness. No — Eric Hunt is morally ill, according to Elie Wiesel, because he questions the Holocaust.
This quote is from a recent news article in the Tallahassee Democrat which mentions the incident in the elevator:
“He wanted to drag me off to his room and convince me that the Holocaust never happened and videotape me saying it was all made up, which is completely ridiculous,” Wiesel, who turned 83 this week, said.
Wiesel, who will speak Tuesday night at Florida State University, eluded the erstwhile kidnapper and alerted police. The culprit was arrested, put on trial and convicted.
“He was a college graduate. Only 22. His career is finished. And for that? I had to attend his trial. He apologized to me,” Wiesel said. “Personally, I felt nothing. I felt sorry for his mother, but not him. I felt nothing. There are some people who are mentally ill. There are other people who are not mentally ill but morally ill.” (more…)
