Dear Elie Wiesel,
At first I was extremely excited upon reading this novel, I have always been severely interested in the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. But, now after reading the first pages of your story I am completely in a shock and heart broken. Upon first opening the novel and coming to terms with the Preface I immediately felt connected to this story with aching mind and a heavy heart. On the first pages in which your story begins Moishe the Beadle "had mastered the art of rendering himself insignificant and invisible." I am not the most talented or smart person, and I am far from perfect. One art I do master is that of silence. I do not,as some may put it, fit in at school. Whether its sitting in English or being isolated in gym.
Your Preface is one of the things that struck me most in the beginning of the novel. I am in a lost of words for what you had to go through, and everyone else for that matter. What hurts the most is, after millions of babies, families, and fellow humans being killed, we still turn to our most evil, and primitive state. The question is; do we choose to or is it a sub conscience act? From the Holocaust, we still see the worst of the worst in people, from 9/11 to Sandy Hook elementary school where 26 children were brutally murdered, and a mother by her own son. Sometimes, one's mind becomes incapable to understand what really happened or how can someone like me do something like that? We all think it but I wonder; Who really is more dominant our "good" side or our "bad"? I think it's up to us.
I appreciate you taking the time to write this novel and go through the painstaking emotional toll on yourself to open millions of people's eyes to what is wrong with society and ourselves.
With deep sorrow and hope,
Destiny Welshman
Dear Destiny,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sending me a letter! As you mentioned Moishe the Beadle did indeed master the art of invisibility. Being a Jew in those days almost required you to stay invisible. If you drew attention to yourself there was a good chance you would be killed. Had it not been for the example he set, I am not sure I would have survived Auschwitz.
Unfortunately, even after the carnage of the Holocaust, hate still has a large place in our world today. I believe everyone has some level of hate in them, but I also believe that deep down everyone’s good side is more dominant. I believe even the Nazis, who put me through hell, were born good people. They had to be brainwashed to commit those terrible acts. If society has any hope of preventing hate from continuing, we most prevent future generations from being brainwashed into believing the same prejudices as their forefathers. I hope you send me more letters.
Sincerely,
Elie Wiesel