Silence Isn't Always Golden

" And then I explain to him how naive we were, that the world did know and remained silent. And that is why I swore never to be silent when and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented"(Elie Wiesel).

This excerpt from Elie Wiesel's acceptance speech of the Nobel Peace Prize was very thought provoking to me. Would I have the courage to speak out against something even if others around me were silent? I would like to say yes, but I am uncertain had I actually been put in the situation. His point is very strong. How can you be innocent if a crime is being committed and you are ignoring it to avoid involvement. He also says something about what we can do to help these victims. "What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stilled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the quality of our freedom depends on theirs"(Elie Wiesel). Both these excepts seem very related to our studies of Night and offer some general insight of how Elie feels about oppression in general, and what we can do to possibly prevent future genocides.