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Elie Weisel: The Perils of Indifference
Elie Wiesel lost most of his family to the Nazi death camps of World War II. As a Holocaust survivor, he dedicated his life to ending injustice, suffering, and indifference. In this 1999 speech given at the White House, Wiesel makes the case for gratitude, passion, and �making a difference� in the world. His speech links being indifferent, or being a bystander to hate, to destroying humanity. Indifference harms all, because �in denying (people) their humanity we betray our own.�
48 pages, ebook
Published August 31, 2020
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April 8, 2021
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/el...
“The Perils of Indifference” is a speech given by Elie Wiesel in 1999. Wiesel spoke at the White House when invited by First Lady Hillary Clinton, and he reflected on the perils of indifference to human suffering.
As Wiesel was a survivor of the Holocaust, his speech is full of personal memories as well as the collective memories of the imprisoned Jews in the Holocaust. This speech is overwhelmingly full of things that connect it to the concept of Experience. Discussions can be had about Wiesel’s personal experience as described in the speech; Wiesel was a young boy who saw the rage of American soldiers when they liberated himself and others from Buchenwald. He also saw and knew people in the concentration camps who were called “Muselmanner,” people who were already dead even in their living. Another experience that can be discussed is the emotional trauma of Wiesel’s life following the liberation. His experience is tragically one of confusion, anger, and even resentment as he reflects and recognizes that leaders of the free world did nothing to liberate the Jewish people even though they were aware of the atrocities that went on. There is the experience of the student reading this speech, their emotions, thoughts, responses, and indifference or reaction. The experience of children all over the world who are being persecuted is noted in this speech. And finally, in the last paragraph, Wiesel admits that his life experience as an elderly man is permeated with his younger self’s identity as a former prisoner and survivor.
I remember learning about the Second World War in middle school and being horrified at what I was learning. In this speech, Wiesel pleads with his listeners to not be indifferent about the suffering of others. During and after this speech, middle schoolers will have been those whom Wiesel was speaking to. They will also most likely have learned about World War Two by the time this speech is being read. The middle schoolers we teach will not have been a part of the society in which the Holocaust was a present issue. However, they live in the world and society that allowed it to happen and continue happening. Students should be prompted to consider Wiesel’s words very seriously and to examine if they are, in fact, indifferent, or if the knowledge of suffering causes pain and sadness.
There are two potential writing strategies that can follow this reading. The first is to use this speech paired with one of my media sources, the “Most Shocking Second a Day Video,” which shows the life of a young girl in a war-torn country. The video aligns perfectly with Wiesel’s parting words about the children perishing in current wars. If this route is taken, the “Burning Questions” writing strategy used with the media source will work well in conjunction with the speech and the video. A writing strategy for the speech alone would be the “Why Should I Care?” express and reflect strategy. In this activity, students pick an article to reflect on and write why they should care about that particular topic. To tailor this strategy to Wiesel’s speech, teachers should provide students with articles detailing current wars in the world. Articles about past wars would work as well but they would not be as relatable because Wiesel’s main point is that indifference in the moment of suffering is what shows a lack of humanity.
“The Perils of Indifference” is a speech given by Elie Wiesel in 1999. Wiesel spoke at the White House when invited by First Lady Hillary Clinton, and he reflected on the perils of indifference to human suffering.
As Wiesel was a survivor of the Holocaust, his speech is full of personal memories as well as the collective memories of the imprisoned Jews in the Holocaust. This speech is overwhelmingly full of things that connect it to the concept of Experience. Discussions can be had about Wiesel’s personal experience as described in the speech; Wiesel was a young boy who saw the rage of American soldiers when they liberated himself and others from Buchenwald. He also saw and knew people in the concentration camps who were called “Muselmanner,” people who were already dead even in their living. Another experience that can be discussed is the emotional trauma of Wiesel’s life following the liberation. His experience is tragically one of confusion, anger, and even resentment as he reflects and recognizes that leaders of the free world did nothing to liberate the Jewish people even though they were aware of the atrocities that went on. There is the experience of the student reading this speech, their emotions, thoughts, responses, and indifference or reaction. The experience of children all over the world who are being persecuted is noted in this speech. And finally, in the last paragraph, Wiesel admits that his life experience as an elderly man is permeated with his younger self’s identity as a former prisoner and survivor.
I remember learning about the Second World War in middle school and being horrified at what I was learning. In this speech, Wiesel pleads with his listeners to not be indifferent about the suffering of others. During and after this speech, middle schoolers will have been those whom Wiesel was speaking to. They will also most likely have learned about World War Two by the time this speech is being read. The middle schoolers we teach will not have been a part of the society in which the Holocaust was a present issue. However, they live in the world and society that allowed it to happen and continue happening. Students should be prompted to consider Wiesel’s words very seriously and to examine if they are, in fact, indifferent, or if the knowledge of suffering causes pain and sadness.
There are two potential writing strategies that can follow this reading. The first is to use this speech paired with one of my media sources, the “Most Shocking Second a Day Video,” which shows the life of a young girl in a war-torn country. The video aligns perfectly with Wiesel’s parting words about the children perishing in current wars. If this route is taken, the “Burning Questions” writing strategy used with the media source will work well in conjunction with the speech and the video. A writing strategy for the speech alone would be the “Why Should I Care?” express and reflect strategy. In this activity, students pick an article to reflect on and write why they should care about that particular topic. To tailor this strategy to Wiesel’s speech, teachers should provide students with articles detailing current wars in the world. Articles about past wars would work as well but they would not be as relatable because Wiesel’s main point is that indifference in the moment of suffering is what shows a lack of humanity.
September 12, 2022
Elie Wiesel: The Perils of Indifference by Rebecca Sjonger- “The Perils of Indifference” is a speech delivered by Elie Wiesel in 1999 at the White House. Elie was invited by First Lady Hillary Clinton, and he reflected on the perils of indifference to human suffering. He narrated that criticizing the people and countries who chose to be indifferent while the Holocaust was happening. He defined indifference “as being neutral between two sides, which, in this case, amounts to overlooking the victims of the Holocaust.” As Wiesel was a survivor of the Holocaust, his speech is full of personal memories as well as the collective memories of the imprisoned Jews in the Holocaust. This speech is overwhelmingly full of things that connect it to the concept of Experience. Discussions can be had about Wiesel’s personal experience as described in the speech; Wiesel was a young boy who saw the rage of American soldiers when they liberated himself and others from Buchenwald. He also saw and knew people in the concentration camps who were called “Muselmanner,” people who were already dead even in their living. Another experience that can be discussed is the emotional trauma of Wiesel’s life following the liberation. His experience is tragically one of confusion, anger, and even resentment as he reflects and recognizes that leaders of the free world did nothing to liberate the Jewish people even though they were aware of the atrocities that went on. There is the experience of the student reading this speech, their emotions, thoughts, responses, and indifference or reaction. The experience of children all over the world who are being persecuted is noted in this speech. And finally, in the last paragraph, Wiesel admits that his life experience as an elderly man is permeated with his younger self’s identity as a former prisoner and survivor. I remember learning about the Second World War in middle school and being horrified at what I was learning. In this speech, Wiesel pleads with his listeners to not be indifferent about the suffering of others. During and after this speech, middle schoolers will have been those whom Wiesel was speaking to. They will also most likely have learned about World War Two by the time this speech is being read. The middle schoolers we teach will not have been a part of the society in which the Holocaust was a present issue. However, they live in the world and society that allowed it to happen and continue happening. Students should be prompted to consider Wiesel’s words very seriously and to examine if they are, in fact, indifferent, or if the knowledge of suffering causes pain and sadness. Wiesel’s main point is that indifference in the moment of suffering is what shows a lack of humanity. This is a historical speech. The message is that War is not a solution at all.
February 4, 2021
the book is my favorite to this day, i find the holocaust one of the most interesting time to learn about. This period of time was a gadgetry and a terrible time for jews. I like to hear the stories of people who had to endure it, the writer does a wonderful job of bringing it to life.
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