Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel honored with stamp as part of USPS "Distinguished Americans" series
The United States Postal Service is honoring Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel with a new stamp.
The USPS says it receives roughly 30,000 suggestions for stamps each year, but the number of actual honorees in its "Distinguished Americans" series is much smaller. On Wednesday, Wiesel became the 18th.
Wiesel's life and work have educated generations about the horrors of the Holocaust. His written and spoken testimony of survival as a teenager underscored not just the importance of history, but of remembrance. His life's work means he has remained a messenger of truth, even in the nearly 10 years since his death.
"My father was a man of letters"
The Postal Service says it has printed 8 million Wiesel stamps. His only son, Elisha Wiesel, was there for the unveiling Wednesday at the 92nd Street Y.
"To see my father's face on a stamp, to know that every envelope it adorns will carry a piece of his memory across our country and beyond, is a gift," he said.
On stage for the ceremony was Elie Wiesel's actual desk, where his son says he spent a lifetime putting pen to paper, writing books and responding to letters. All of it added significance to the ceremony.
"My father was a man of letters, you know? That's who he was," Elisha Wiesel said. "The amazing thing is, I gotta believe hundreds, if not thousands, of students wrote to him over time. He responded to every letter."
"Society depends on trusted messengers"
As Elisha Wiesel put pen to paper himself, signing autographs for the crowd at the ceremony, he said antisemitism in New York and across the country is the worst he has experienced in his lifetime.
Wiesel said he doesn't know how his father would reconcile that, but he knows his father's legacy as a messenger in books, in letters and, soon, on envelopes across the world may never be more vital.
"Society depends on trusted messengers. And my father's life reminds us that truth and hope also depend on those willing to bear messages, no matter how heavy," he said.
The stamps are currently available online and in post offices.
