Elie Wiesel will be commemorated by the City of Côte St. Luc with the naming of a new park after him.
Elie Wiesel Remembrance Park will be located at the corner of Cavendish Boulevard and Kildare Road in the Montreal-area municipality.
“Côte St. Luc has one of the largest populations, per capita, of Holocaust survivors in the world,” said Mayor Mitchell Brownstein. “It is highly appropriate to honour Elie Wiesel this way posthumously. After he died, it was our own Beth Israel Beth Aaron Congregation that held a Montreal-wide memorial.”
The Romanian-born author, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, died July 2 at age 87. His acclaimed memoir Night recounted his and his family’s experience in the Nazi death camps.
READ: WIESEL’S MESSAGES ARE AS RELEVANT TODAY AS THEY WERE A DECADE AGO
The park, which is expected to be completed in November, will be formally dedicated next spring. The city is working with the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre and community leaders to ensure that the park accurately tells the story of Wiesel’s fight for human rights.
The park will have 11 trees, walking paths, 10 benches, lamp standards and illuminated bollards, and decorative fences, said city councillor Mike Cohen, whose district is where the park is located.
“As the councillor responsible for naming rights, I was approached by a number of people after Wiesel died with the suggestion that the city honour him,” said Cohen. “I believe that by doing so at the intersection of two of our most important streets makes a lot of sense. Elie Wiesel was a champion for people of all religions. We are proud of the fact his legacy will live on in our community forever.”
