HIST1007 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: The Painted Bird, Elie Wiesel, Pawiak
Document Summary
Although a christian, his family had received much aid from local poles to avoid capture. Additionally, his horrific experiences in world war ii poland and russia caused him to be mute for much of his childhood. 1 however, his family did eventually end up in the warsaw ghetto, but he managed to escape during the warsaw ghetto uprisings. Later, he was eventually arrested by the germans for his underground work, taken to the notorious pawiak jail, and brutally tortured. He lost all his teeth, yet remained silent. Once wwii had ended, he immigrated to the u. s in 1957 and studied political science and became a professor of sociology. From then on, jerzy would pursue writing with much success. His first novel, the painted bird was essentially about a young boy whose story is much like his, and it should be noted he often claimed to be that young boy.
