Lines 1-19: What does Wiesel do to get listeners' attention at the beginning of his speech? Why might Wiesel have chosen to begin this way?

He starts the speech in one with a tense tone. He chooses to start like this, because the reason why he is receiving the award has a serious meaning and that must be treated with the same tension with which it happened.

Explanation:

Wiesel starts the speech by citing the dead in the holocaust and how the prize he is receiving is connected to these dead, as he is receiving a prize for the book he wrote about his own experiences in the concentration camps. Wiesel recognizes that he represents a people who suffered irrationally and that this cannot be treated with happiness, but with tension and that is why he starts the speech in a tense way.

which time period is this? or is this story fictional, i'm going to need more info to answer this question