But ...will the world ever learn?

I was touched by the remarks Nobel Laureate and Auschwitz survivor Elie Wiesel made to the United Nations General Assembly before the 60^th anniversary of the Allied liberation of the Nazi death camps. In concluding his remarks he said,

“The Jewish witness speaks of his people's suffering as a warning. He sounds the alarm so as to prevent these things being done. He knows that for the dead it is too late; for them, abandoned by God and betrayed by humanity, victory came much too late.

But it is not too late for today's children, ours and yours. It is for their sake alone that we bear witness. It is for their sake that we are duty-bound to denounce anti-Semitism, racism, and religious or ethnic hatred. Those who today preach and practice the cult of death, those who use suicide terrorism, the scourge of this new century, must be tried and condemned for crimes against humanity. Suffering confers no privileges; it is what one does with suffering that matters. Yes, the past is in the present, but the future is still in our hands.

Those who survived Auschwitz advocate hope, not despair; generosity, not rancor or bitterness; gratitude, not violence. We must be engaged, we must reject indifference as an option. Indifference always helps the aggressor, never his victims. And what is memory if not a noble and necessary response to and against indifference?

But ...will the world ever learn?”

Here is a link for a transcript of Wiesel’s complete speech.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/160/story_16004_1.html

Don