Wiesel Forgive Madoff? No.

Elie Wiesel has seen the darkest displays of humanity. As a survivor of the Holocaust, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning scholar has spent a lifetime writing and speaking about its atrocities and the importance of opposing violence and repression.

So, for the 80-year old professor to repeatedly call another living man a scoundrel, a thief, a liar, and a criminal, as he did Thursday morning in New York, it's got to be someone despicable.

That someone is Bernie Madoff. To call him a sociopath or a psychopath, Wiesel said, is too generous. He was not suffering a disease of the mind, but deliberately preying on innocent philanthropists and robbing the needy of their contributions.

About 160 people, including Dan Rather and the Daily Beast's Tina Brown, packed the 21 Club for breakfast and conversation about Madoff sponsored by Condé Nast Portfolio. Wiesel was joined by former SEC chairman Harvey Pitt and well-known short seller Jim Chanos on the panel to dissect the Madoff scandal and its repercussions.

Wiesel was the only participant who invested with Madoff, and he told the story of how he came to this fateful union through a mutual friend. He met Madoff twice, but never discussed investing or economic topics with him.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity lost $15.2 million, nearly all of its assets, to the Ponzi scheme. Wiesel and his wife also lost a substantial amount of their personal money.

"I still cannot understand it," Wiesel said.

Wiesel believes that the government should consider bailing out the many charitable institutions that were swept up in the promise of consistent and steady returns by Madoff. As for Madoff's punishment, Wiesel would like him to be forced to watch a screen showing pictures of his victims as he sits in jail. "He should not be able to avoid his victims," he said.

As for forgiveness, the Jewish scholar can't find any for Madoff. Forgiveness must be sought, Wiesel says, and Madoff doesn't appear capable.

"Once you enter evil, it's not static," Wiesel said of Madoff's actions. "It's dynamic."

by Megan Barnett

Photograph by Bill Davila/StartraksPhoto