The fact that Elie Wiesel lived past his teenage years was purely a matter of luck. He, like millions of other European Jews, was slated for genocide. Most other European Jews, including nearly all of Wiesel's family, were murdered by the Nazis. Elie Wiesel survived. Why he survived, how he survived, and how he could turn his survival into a mission of peace occupied the mind of the young survivor in the years following his liberation.