In the spring of my sophomore year of high school, my language arts teacher mentioned that we would begin to study the Holocaust through the memoir Night. Growing up, my mom told me stories about what the Holocaust was, but I was too young to understand the weight of it. I heard of Elie Wiesel briefly through little bits of conversations, but I had no idea the impact that this broken man would make on my own life. His words, crafted with a potent sadness that still had the strength to move mountains and shake the gates of hell, have forever etched themselves into the depths of my heart. In honor of Professor Wiesel, check out how a man from a war-torn country and a story to share changed my life for the better.
Elie Wiesel reminded me of the strength of peace. In a world preaching revenge over reconciliation, Elie Wiesel was bold enough to remind people of their humanity. He did not hide his anger, frustration, or restlessness in the unanswered questions that his fate gave him, but he did not use it as justification for hating someone else. Wiesel understood the importance of stopping the cycle of unchecked malevolence, and redeeming the past through becoming liberated with love. Chains became broken because he put his hands out for peace.
Today's headlines are looking scarier and scarier, as every day presents itself as a gift and a privilege compared to the struggles our brothers and sisters are facing around the world. We have to stay united in a society that has been used to anything but, joining hands instead of drawing arms. Love is the most courageous revolution and the most potent act of resistance we have.
Let it be known that to love does not mean to reduce one's experience for the convenience of the oppressors. It is not a matter of deluding the narratives of those who have been disproportionally affected by structural violence by a system that has failed to serve them. It is not a matter of remaining silent so others feel comfortable with their ancestral past, but rather a conscious choice to love one another so deeply that hatred and darkness no longer has room to coexist with contentment.
Elie Wiesel did not settle for complacency. He opened the painful and unspeakable wounds of his past because he understood the need to remind people of what happened. "Never again" is not a passive term - it is about having uncomfortable, emotional, raw and ongoing conversations to remind people of the necessity of valuing compassion over conformity.
Atrocities like the Holocaust cannot be forgotten, and cannot be whisked away by 'thoughts and prayers' by elected officials. If we want change, we have to fight for it. It requires the courage of recognizing problematic behaviors and attitudes, and working together to collectively change what we have historically upheld. Elie Wiesel did not settle for people wishing good thoughts - he wielded words geared towards penetrating people's humanity toward a topic history books tried to forget. Collective liberation requires collective participation, and it is humanity's duty to teach future generations of our past atrocities so we can progress forward and heal together.
Elie Wiesel reminded me of the power of words. Night will forever be one of my favorite books because of the way in which Elie Wiesel authentically shares his story. Although it's not full of fancy jargon or scientific terminology, it is one of the emotionally grueling and difficult books I have ever read. If you're uncomfortable reading it, you're reading it correctly.
I've been sharing my heart on my sleeve (or iPhone screen) since I was sixteen years old, giving away my experiences and ideas that I still struggle with understanding for the uncertainty of whether or not they will be read in the first place. I have cried, laughed, and given what is left of my heart to the articles I write, regardless of how people will react. I've gotten some of the harshest comments around, but I've also been told my articles have positively impacted someone.
We write to heal and to remember and to process, but we also write because it's all we have. People can take away our dignity, our clothes, our relationships and what little material possessions we may have, but they cannot shake our narratives out of their unforgiving hands. Our voices may shake and our pens may falter, but we are immaculate quiet storms that can change the course of humanity.
Even the stars are sobbing for the loss of a man so good the earth did not deserve a fraction of his light. Although I never had the chance to meet him in person, his stories will forever have an impact that translates sentiment in my heart to action in my feet. Thank you Professor Wiesel, for the endless contributions you have made to humanity, and the way in which your words have banished ignorance from so many people's lives. Sleep soundly into the night, as we remember you for generations to come, and inspire the people around us to follow.