Passivity

The Jews of Sighet display a theme common to many of us today. With the regularity of everyday life, they allowed themselves to slip into regularity; a sense of security. As many have experienced in their own lifetimes, this illusion of permanence is so comfortable that we try to protect it by ameliorating the effects of a world moving on – the new, strange and awkward should be avoided at any costs.

And so, a theme of passivity is established in Night, to the extent of denial. Is it that the community simply does not believe Moishe the Beadle? No – Moishe is respected enough for his story to be credible. Rather, the community finds it easier to simply deny the reality than to accept and prepare for the truth. This theme is continued throughout the opening chapters: “They will stay in Budapest”. People ask why so few of the Jewish settlements put up resistance to the Nazis – even when they were aware of the consequences of allowing themselves to be taken. In order to prepare a defense, one has to accept the reality of a situation. And acceptance is the most painful stage: how many of us have refused to believe that a close one is gone?

After the Holocaust was exposed for what it was, nations of the world united in saying “Never again”. And yet, genocide still continues. Persecution is still commonplace. And still the world watches silently.

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