Reading through tributes, articles and quotes both by Wiesel as well for him, I realize I don’t deeply know the man behind the books and speeches, the man I’ve always found to be an inspiration.
His most notable work — “Night” — was published in English decades before many of us were even born. The heart-wrenching, mind-opening novella often begets the history lessons or primitive philosophical discussions on the Holocaust in middle school or high school, turning students into a WWII connoisseurs of dates and biographies.
While it’s incredible to teach students the gravity and importance of the Holocaust (even at a year when they cannot truly grasp it yet), I remember meeting countless peers who found the period fascinating, who — despite absorbing the horrors in detail — did not understand or attempt to understand the victims’ stories themselves. “The Diary of Anne Frank” was a tragic story we read, but it was just a story because it’s in our nature to push away unfathomable atrocities rather than confronting them.
Which is exactly why the world needs more people like Elie Wiesel. He broke the silence on the evils of the Holocaust, and once said,
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
The 1986 Nobel Peace Prize inscription reads, “Wiesel is a messenger to mankind. His message is one of peace, atonement and human dignity. His belief that the forces fighting evil in the world can be victorious is a hard-won belief.”
Let us and the generations to come after us strive to share that same message, especially in a time filled with so much hate. Let every single person touched by Wiesel’s bravery and wisdom — no matter how significant — strive to leave the world a better place than they found it. The seemingly innumerable and immeasurable prejudices and persecutions make it easy to give up, to grow indifferent so we do not have to face the cruelties, but that is the worst thing we could do in times of global affliction.
“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.”
