The Perils of Indifference

By opening his speech with his own story, Wiesel presents at once the devastating effects of indifference and the impact achievable by those who reject indifference. Wiesel is speaking at the White House on the 54th anniversary of his liberation from the Nazis’ death camp Buchenwald. He states that, at the time of his liberation, despite his freedom, he felt no joy: “He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again” (Paragraph 2). This observation makes clear the severity of the effects of the Holocaust, which was enabled by indifference, on this child’s psyche. Yet in this same paragraph, Wiesel introduces the theme of The Interconnectedness of Humanity—though he felt no joy in that moment, he did feel gratitude. With this emotion, which he believes “is what defines the humanity of the human being” (Paragraph 3), Wiesel suggests some restoration of what was stolen from this boy.

In this opening, Wiesel incorporates as well The Relevance of the Past, using perspective to draw threads of connection between the past and present. The use of third person, rather than first person, to describe his experience as “a young Jewish boy” (Paragraph 2) creates a sense of distance: that boy is not the person who is giving the speech, yet simultaneously, he is.