Holocaust service to honor Elie Wiesel

When author and humanitarian Elie Wiesel received the Chicago Tribune Literary Prize in 2012, Tribune critic Howard Reich interviewed him about his life and work.

The two struck up a friendship that lasted until Wiesel's death in July 2016, brought together by Wiesel's work, and by the Holocaust.

Wiesel was a survivor of the death camps; and Reich has shared with the world the story of his mother, a Holocaust survivor who had hidden from the Nazis as a young girl and later would struggle with the aftermath.

Reich will discuss his relationship with Wiesel and Wiesel's literary classic, "Night" - the haunting memoir of his experience in the Nazi concentration camps - at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 23, in the Founders Lounge of the Frick Center at Elmhurst College, 190 Prospect Ave., Elmhurst.

Reich's talk will be during the annual Holocaust Service of Remembrance and Lecture at Elmhurst College.

Wiesel was the winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize and the inaugural recipient of Elmhurst College's highest honor, the Niebuhr Medal. The Holocaust Service of Remembrance and Lecture is a highlight of the Holocaust Education Project, which for more than 25 years has considered the events and lessons of the Holocaust, as well as their ties to the modern world.

The service and lecture are free. For information, visit elmhurst.edu.