I have just gotten around to reading a new translation of Elie Wiesel’s book, Night. This is a book that everyone should read at least once. In the epilogue, Mr Wiesel’s acceptance speech to the Nobel Committee that awarded him the Peace Prize, is published. It reads in part:
And then I explained to him how naive we were, that the world did know but remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent whenever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.
