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Night Author and Holocaust Survivor Elie Wiesel Ponders the Evils of Man

Aired on 05/24/2006 | CC tv-pg
Some horrors are so immense that it's impossible to fully understand them.

When he was 15 years old, Elie Wiesel was sent to Auschwitz. He later documented his experiences in concentration camps in the classic book Night. In 2006, he returned to the death camp with Oprah to reflect on the staggering loss of life and search for lessons in the dark legacy of the Holocaust. One of their stops was an area where a gas chamber once stood next to a crematorium. When asked what the Nazis were achieving, Elie's answer was simple.

"Death. Just death," he said. "Here, you can go farther. Here, the god of Auschwitz was the god of death."

Watch as Oprah and Elie look back at the immeasurable devastation produced by the Holocaust.

Original airdate: May 24, 2006

Tune in for a special encore presentation of Oprah's conversation with Elie Wiesel on Friday, January 30, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.