Preface and Forward

In the preface and the forward, Elie Wiesel describes how he didn't know how he survived. He described himself as "weak, rather shy; I did nothing to save myself" (vii). He then came to the conclusion that the only reason he survived was to write this book itself. 

In the forward by Francois Mauriac, it talks about how Wiesel came to Mauriac with a book and asked him to get it published. With a lot of effort and hard work he was able to get it published. Mauriac was bewildered to learn about Nazi's extermination methods. He wanted to spread the word so that everyone would become aware of the cruelties the Jews faced.