Hundreds march in Romania to honor Holocaust survivor Wiesel

SIGHETU MARMATIEI, Romania – Hundreds of people have marched in memory of the late Elie Wiesel in a northern Romanian town where thousands of Jews were deported to Nazi death camps.

Romanians, Jews and some Hungarians who had traveled from neighboring Hungary took part in the Sunday evening procession in Sighetu Marmatiei, the hometown of Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel prize winner. They also marched against anti-Semitism.

The procession started at the Wiesel family home, went past the site of the former synagogue and ended at the local railway station where Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps.

Along with 14,000 Jews, Wiesel and his family were deported in May 1944 to Auschwitz from the town, also known as Sighet. His mother and younger sister died there while his two older sisters survived.