Elie Wiesel tells the reader that this is the most important thing that he has ever written, and that it puts meaning in his life. Elie knows that writing can not change anything that happened, but he beliefs that by writing he is "not letting the other guys win." It is very important to him that the world knows what happened to them. He wants everyone to remember the Holocaust.
I can tell by reading the preface that Elie is a very selfless writer. He tells in the preface how he took out many personal stories in order for the book to be published. He said that it was more important for the history to live on then his story. I can also tell that he is a great writer, by the lines, "In the beginning there was faith-which is childish; trust-which is vain-; and illusion-which is dangerous." This is a creative way to start the story.
