Blog Post #4- James



Our studies of the Holocaust this past month have completely changed my perspective on the subject. I did not fully understand the brutality and inhumanity of it all. I only treated it factually, but the memoir Night, the Holocaust Museum and the many other primary sources we have learned from have showed the emotional aspect of the Holocaust that I was lacking. For instance, when writing about his entry into the Auschwitz concentration camp, Elie Wiesel is filled with pain, and emotion, things that help one truly empathize with the victims of the Holocaust.


 “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never” (22).

There is such power in his words because of his profound, poetic style of storytelling, a style he used in his Nobel prize speech as well. When receiving his prize in Oslo, Norway, Wiesel speaks with emphasis on each word and phrase, as if speaking in verse: “Your choice transcends my person. Do I have the right to represent the multitudes who have perished, of whom you have spoken. Do I have the right to accept this great honor on their behalf? Does anyone?” Wiesel summarizes the totality of the Holocaust by asking whether anyone could represent all the victims of it. He knows that no one person could. thus he asks for help in representing the victims, by carrying on ideals of human rights forever, to stop things such as the Holocaust from happening. He compares Aparthied, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and any human suffering at all directly to the Holocaust. So he asks for help in these crises in honor of the victims. He states, “If we forget them they will be killed a second time and this time it will be our responsibility.” It is imperative to bear witness by empathizing physically and emotionally, so they are never killed again. 


Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 4, 2019 at 4:54 AM

    James, I can't read your blog that well, but do you really think that bearing witness can prevent mass murder? I get that it raises awareness but if someone is crazy enough to commit such a crime, they would do it despite of how "aware" everyone is. Let me know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousNovember 4, 2019 at 2:06 PM

      What I am trying to say here is that bearing witness to the Holocaust means carrying on ideals of freedom and equality. Mass murder most certainly objects to these ideals, therefore one who holds the ideals will object to it. Objection to something is the first step to stopping something. So yes, bearing witness can prevent mass murder.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousNovember 4, 2019 at 2:07 PM

      and yeah, the blog is all glitched out.

      Delete

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