- 6 hours ago
Episode 01: Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
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00:00:00.
00:00:01.
00:00:47Ellie spent most of his life looking for the shadows, seeking out the darkness, in the
00:00:57hope that he could do something about it.
00:01:12Last night, I saw my mother in a dream.
00:01:15She seemed upset and I realized that something serious had happened.
00:01:22She motioned me to follow her.
00:01:26Then suddenly I saw my father.
00:01:29He was wearing my grey suit.
00:01:32It looked good on him.
00:01:40We were all there, everyone from before and from now, standing at a river that all at once
00:01:48began to swell, its level rising from moment to moment.
00:01:56It's the flood, someone said quite calmly, it's the flood, but I am not afraid.
00:02:04Just then my father waded into the murky blood-colored water and I said to myself, so rivers of blood
00:02:11does not exist after all.
00:02:14He stayed beneath the water.
00:02:18I began to shout for help.
00:02:22But everyone was suddenly gone.
00:02:26I don't know how to swim, so I panicked, screaming louder and louder, but I was all alone.
00:02:35And I found him.
00:02:39I don't know what power aided me, all I know is that I managed to save him all by myself.
00:02:46I helped him stretch out on the grass, listen to his breathing.
00:02:52In my dream he was alive, my mother too, in my dream.
00:03:01Whether we want it or not, we are still living in the era of the Holocaust.
00:03:07The language is the language of the Holocaust.
00:03:09The fears are linked to it.
00:03:13The perspectives, unfortunately, are tied to it.
00:03:20The first time we met, I asked Eli, what do you actually do?
00:03:23And he answered me with a smile, he said, I'm a storyteller, a teller of tales.
00:03:37The first tale I always tell comes from the darkest hour of my generation.
00:03:44I was young, almost a child, when I saw it unfold before my eyes.
00:03:51Somewhere in the kingdom of the Holocaust, 1944.
00:04:13In my small town, somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, I knew where I was.
00:04:21I knew why I was born.
00:04:25I knew why I existed.
00:04:40Now, I no longer know anything.
00:04:44As in a dusty mirror, I look at my childhood and I wonder if it is mine.
00:04:52In Siget, my town, Shabbat began on Friday afternoon.
00:04:59Shops closed well before sundown.
00:05:02After the ritual bath, my father would walk to services, dressed for the occasion.
00:05:07Sometimes my father would take my hand as though to protect me as we passed the nearby police
00:05:12station or the central prison on the main square.
00:05:14I liked it when he did that and I like to remember it now.
00:05:21The merchants conducted their businesses.
00:05:26The students studied Talmud.
00:05:29The beggars wandered from house to house to get a bit of food for Shabbat to their families.
00:05:35Life was normal.
00:05:39I would give so much to be able to relieve a Shabbat in my small town.
00:05:44The whiteness of the tablecloth, the blinking candle flames, the beaming faces around me,
00:05:57the melodious voice of my grandfather inviting the angels of the Sabbath to accompany him to our home.
00:06:07It is this Shabbat that I miss.
00:06:11The whole feeling of religious Jewish family celebrating Shabbat.
00:06:19To early Shabbat is the ultimate thing.
00:06:21Shabbat is what is home, what it meant to him.
00:06:27It was a very happy souvenir, at this moment, before the war.
00:06:33It was really, really a beautiful life.
00:06:37Since my poor mother and my father,
00:06:42we took a teacher,
00:06:44who gave us the religious education.
00:06:55I come from a very religious background, very religious family.
00:06:59My dream was to become a teacher of Talmud.
00:07:07We Jews in Hungary, in our ghetto, we didn't know about Auschwitz.
00:07:15People tried to hang on to a fragment of hope, in spite of logic.
00:07:21They said to one another, it's inconceivable, after all, that the Hungarians would send us all away.
00:07:27How could the town go on functioning without its physicians and businessmen,
00:07:33without its watchmakers and tailors?
00:07:37The town needs us, society needs us.
00:07:41No one among us, and surely not I, still young to possess the sense of reality,
00:07:46could imagine that they will come a day darker than others,
00:07:51when we too will be going towards the unknown.
00:07:56In 1944, very quickly, things happened.
00:08:02Between Passover and Shavuot, several weeks,
00:08:07the ghetto was created,
00:08:11transports began,
00:08:14and the entire city,
00:08:17from 12,000 to 15,000 Jews,
00:08:20were sent to Auschwitz.
00:08:26I left my native town in the spring of 1944.
00:08:31It was a beautiful day.
00:08:33The surrounding mountains, in their green light, seemed taller than usual.
00:08:39Our neighbors were out strolling in their shirt sleeves.
00:08:43Some turned their heads away, others sneered.
00:08:47At times I tell myself that I have never really left the place where I was born.
00:08:54In my study over the table where I work, there hangs a single photograph.
00:08:59It shows my parents' home in Syria.
00:09:02When I look up, that is what I see.
00:09:05And it seems to be telling me,
00:09:07don't forget where you came from.
00:09:14When we arrived in Auschwitz, my father looked through the window and said,
00:09:19scared of Auschwitz.
00:09:20The name meant nothing to us.
00:09:25Immediately separated us from my mother and my sisters.
00:09:30I remained with my father.
00:09:33Everything was so fast.
00:09:34And then something strange happened to me.
00:09:38When I saw these hundreds and hundreds and thousands of Jews coming from all over Europe,
00:09:44speaking all languages, belonging to all cultures, to all conditions.
00:09:49I had a feeling this is a messianic event.
00:09:53The messiah is coming.
00:09:58To claim both not the messiah, but death as messiah.
00:10:13My mother knew that there was no hope.
00:10:16Because she told me, at the last minute, to my sister,
00:10:20always stay together.
00:10:22Always stay together.
00:10:23And she told me, go and tell me to stay with her.
00:10:27And I ran from the other side.
00:10:29It was right away.
00:10:31Papa, stay with her.
00:10:33Stay with him.
00:10:34Like that.
00:10:35I was staying with my father.
00:10:39And the last words of my mother, it was to stay together.
00:10:49Then I read, I read the last time, my little sister,
00:10:52in his blue manteau that she received for Pesach, for Pâques.
00:10:59And my two grand-sœurs, and my mother, and my grand-mère, who advanced.
00:11:05And I entered into a sort of a real dream.
00:11:10It was a nightmare.
00:11:13I saw cars coming.
00:11:17And I saw what we saw in the flames,
00:11:22in the flames,
00:11:22in the flames.
00:11:25In the flames,
00:11:26I saw children living.
00:11:30I closed my eyes.
00:11:33And in a few minutes, I walked in the eyes closed,
00:11:38always looking for my father's eyes.
00:11:43The children were living.
00:12:04Auschwitz was the name of a little railroad station even inside Auschwitz they did not
00:12:12believe that Auschwitz was something else than a little railroad station but Auschwitz became a center
00:12:20of Jewish history oh yes at that point and at that period Jewish history ran through Auschwitz
00:12:29and not through New York or London or Stockholm we didn't know that I'm sure that many people
00:12:38went to their death not even believing afterwards that they were dead
00:12:50everything died in Auschwitz ideals died there man died there the idea of God the image of God changed
00:13:00underwent a horrifying metamorphosis there it was my father who kept me alive we saw it together
00:13:12and I wanted him to live I knew that if I die he would die
00:13:19the march to the death that we call it the 18th of January and all of a sudden we told
00:13:28us that we had to evacuate the camp
00:13:31dissiper and marches and marches and marches those who could not marches and who satisied
00:13:38with a ball in the neck we heard these coups of revolvers these coups of shooting all the time and
00:13:45and we arrived to Buchenwald it was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people in one barrack
00:14:02and we arrived to Buchenwald it was hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people in one barrack
00:14:15my father got sick diarrhea
00:14:21and one night
00:14:25I heard him call me
00:14:31and that morning he died
00:14:35and I felt he wanted to tell me something
00:14:39but
00:14:39we couldn't
00:14:42and again even today I tried to figure out what was his testament
00:14:46what did he want to tell me
00:14:48the thing that personally touched him the most of being in a concentration camp
00:14:55was the fact that he couldn't help his father
00:14:58his father was dying
00:15:00and he asked him to come and help him
00:15:03and he couldn't
00:15:05and that was a deep deep wound
00:15:10one day really I saw myself in that mirror
00:15:14and I saw a person who was ageless, nameless, faceless
00:15:21a person who belonged to another world, the world of the dead
00:15:31one of the things that
00:15:34every survivor has to face and does face today
00:15:39is the fact of its own survival
00:15:42he somehow is ashamed
00:15:43of still being here
00:15:45and not part of the others who are no longer here
00:15:53in that place of eternal darkness and silence
00:15:57we lived not only with the dead
00:15:59we lived in death
00:16:14I belong to a group called the Buchenwald children
00:16:18we were 400 children in Buchenwald
00:16:21then the American army liberated camp
00:16:25the youngest was eight
00:16:27seven or eight
00:16:28the oldest was eighteen or ninety
00:16:31I was sixteen
00:16:36then France
00:16:37offered us
00:16:39refuge
00:16:44that train ride in Schloss of the Fidelis was very special
00:16:48we received from the American army
00:16:50I remember cookies
00:16:52and the first thing we did
00:16:53we shared our cookies
00:17:00when we arrived
00:17:01they separated us in two groups
00:17:04those who were religious
00:17:06and the others
00:17:10I had outbursts of anger
00:17:12of despair too
00:17:14but the moment we came to France
00:17:17in that children's home
00:17:18I re-became religious
00:17:23those homes were very very special
00:17:25and I remember
00:17:27it was with great great affection
00:17:29and tenderness
00:17:30and melancholy
00:17:31and nostalgia
00:17:33and that was the beginning
00:17:36of the surrogate families they had
00:17:38of the big bonds of friendship
00:17:42that's more than friendship
00:17:44that's really like brothers
00:17:46more than brothers
00:17:47that you still see so today
00:17:56we didn't cry
00:17:59maybe because people were afraid
00:18:01if they were to start crying
00:18:03they would never end
00:18:10our problem was how to adjust to death
00:18:14it was normal to go to sleep with corpses
00:18:17and wake up with corpses
00:18:19wondering whether you are not one of them
00:18:21after the war
00:18:23it was difficult
00:18:24once more to see in death a scandal
00:18:29to see in death once more a source of pain
00:18:40one day there were journalists who came to do a story
00:18:42about our
00:18:43after all children from Buchenwald
00:18:45it was a good story
00:18:48I played chess with a friend
00:18:51they took pictures
00:18:52alright
00:18:53and then later I was in the office of the director
00:18:57and I heard him speak
00:18:59on the telephone
00:19:00mentioning my name
00:19:03I said
00:19:03I heard you mention my name
00:19:05he said
00:19:06oh you are Wiesel
00:19:06I said yes
00:19:07he said I just spoke to your sister
00:19:12I said
00:19:13he said the director
00:19:13I don't believe it
00:19:14what you mean
00:19:15must be a mistake
00:19:17even if she meant very much
00:19:18what is she doing in France
00:19:20if she is in France
00:19:21how does she know I am here
00:19:23but she said
00:19:24but she has a message for you
00:19:26she will wait for you tomorrow
00:19:27the railway station in Paris
00:19:30I didn't sleep all night as you can imagine
00:19:34then came next day
00:19:36there she was
00:19:47a morning
00:19:47a day
00:19:49she brought a journal to my house
00:19:52where I was at Paris
00:19:54and I looked at her
00:19:56and I said
00:19:57that's my brother
00:19:58she said
00:19:59that's not possible
00:20:01I said
00:20:01that's my brother
00:20:02my brother
00:20:03is with the jacket
00:20:05it's this photo
00:20:07that I saw in Paris
00:20:08and it's thanks to this photo that we met.
00:20:16Me and my sœur were saved.
00:20:25Unfortunately, she died in Canada.
00:20:28She was named Beatrice Jackson,
00:20:31Ney Wieselm.
00:20:41Hilda simply saw my picture in the paper.
00:20:45She had met an Algerian Jew in the DP camp immediately after the war,
00:20:51and she followed him to marry him in Paris.
00:20:54After I married myself with Mr. Amselm.
00:21:00And four years later, my son was born.
00:21:04Who is called?
00:21:06Sydney.
00:21:06Ney.
00:21:07And I was born in Paris.
00:21:11There was a laser that was my sand-dug,
00:21:14and it was also my baby-sitter.
00:21:17And I remember that today,
00:21:19I tell you, there's a place here in the ocean,
00:21:22how he was singing.
00:21:25A petite...
00:21:28So he was singing.
00:21:30So he was singing. There's this place in the ocean.
00:21:35And I left the children's home.
00:21:37I went to Paris.
00:21:40I cut myself off from the city and from life for weeks on end.
00:21:50I lived in a room which was much more like a prison cell,
00:21:56large enough for only one.
00:22:00I looked only at the sand river bearing along its foam.
00:22:04I no longer perceived the sky mirrored in it.
00:22:11And I threw myself immediately into learning.
00:22:15I was looking for myself.
00:22:18I was fleeing from myself.
00:22:20And always there was this taste of failure.
00:22:31A friend went to visit Elie Wiesel.
00:22:34And he goes into a small little apartment.
00:22:38And the room is pitch black.
00:22:40And there's just a single candle burning.
00:22:43There's classical music playing.
00:22:46He's not saying anything.
00:22:49My friend said he could tell that he knew I was there.
00:22:55After a bit of time, he just turned around and left.
00:23:01I remember once asking him, how can you write so fluently?
00:23:08And he said, I get up at four in the morning.
00:23:11I just sit in front of the white page.
00:23:14And my hand goes to the pen.
00:23:16And it starts writing.
00:23:44The act of writing is for me often nothing more than the secret
00:23:48of conscience desire to carve words on a tombstone.
00:23:52To the memory of all those I loved,
00:23:56and who before I could tell them I loved them,
00:23:59went away.
00:24:05If she didn't break anything,
00:24:09nothing she didn't break.
00:24:11I want to show you these letters from me from the beginning.
00:24:41He had migraine headaches.
00:24:45Terrible headaches.
00:24:46Terrible headaches.
00:24:47The pain that this caused, the torment, the anguish.
00:24:54I drew away from people.
00:24:57No tie, no liaison came to interrupt my solitude.
00:25:00I lived only in books where my memory tried to rejoin a more immense and ordered memory.
00:25:07And the more I remembered, the more I felt excluded and alone.
00:25:15I had lost my faith in many things.
00:25:19And I had lost my sense of belonging and orientation.
00:25:23And my faith in God was shaken.
00:25:28I found myself living in the ghetto.
00:25:34He told me that he lived or spent a lot of time with the clochard, the homeless in Paris.
00:25:43And he didn't open his mouth for almost a year.
00:25:47And when he opened his mouth, he had French. He had it.
00:25:51I remained with French because I acquired the French language in France.
00:25:56And I needed a new language.
00:25:59I needed it like a home, a new home.
00:26:02His French was fluent, but not perfect.
00:26:06But he did all of his writing in French all along, even though
00:26:11he really had only spent a few years in France, but he spent many more years in this country.
00:26:18I was sent by a French paper to Israel in 1949 to cover the immigration from the DP camps.
00:26:26And I went there for a few months and came back to Paris,
00:26:30remained a foreign correspondent in Paris.
00:26:32I thought it was interesting that he was a reporter,
00:26:37because I thought maybe that was part of his way of dealing with it.
00:26:41That if you report on things, you sort of have to learn about them.
00:26:48And then you're telling other people about them.
00:26:50And maybe that was a way back into reality.
00:27:00Things have changed in the world.
00:27:03And perhaps the world itself has changed.
00:27:10Have I?
00:27:20When I write, I have the feeling, literally, physically,
00:27:24that my grandfather and my mother is looking over my shoulder and reading what I am writing.
00:27:31I want to be sure that the words will be the proper words.
00:27:39At one point, I decided to write my testimony.
00:27:44I had made a vow in 45 to wait 10 years.
00:27:48I wanted my language to be the monument to our people, especially to those who died.
00:27:55I wanted my language to be the monument to our people.
00:27:56How does one overcome trauma?
00:27:58Well, he overcame it through becoming a witness.
00:28:03Night, of course, was the epicenter.
00:28:09He wrote the original book in Yiddish.
00:28:14It was published in Argentina.
00:28:16My manuscript was 864 pages.
00:28:21It was called to develop a geschrieben and the world was silent.
00:28:26I wrote it for the other survivors who found it difficult to speak.
00:28:34And I wanted really to tell them, look, you must speak.
00:28:44Ten years after Buffalo, I see what the world forgets.
00:28:49The German army has resurrected.
00:28:53World criminals walk in the streets.
00:28:56The past has been erased from God.
00:29:01Germans and anti-Semites tell the world that the story of the six million Jewish that is only a legend,
00:29:08and the naive world would believe in it, if not today, than tomorrow.
00:29:16The world that was silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.
00:29:23The title of the Yiddish is pissed off at non-Jews.
00:29:31It's the world kept silent.
00:29:34This idea that the Jews feel unseen, their sorrows unappreciated.
00:29:41And what we have in the Yiddish is the way Holocaust survivors talk.
00:29:45He wrote this for a very specific audience, but it was not written
00:29:50for those who did not read Yiddish or didn't have access to Jewish culture and Jewish languages
00:29:59to access that book.
00:30:01The French is poetic, symbolic.
00:30:06It doesn't stick its finger in anybody's chest.
00:30:10It points at a kind of cosmic catastrophe.
00:30:17And this is the original copy that nobody wanted, but it's all falling apart.
00:30:26In Night, which was translated from the Yiddish and shortened,
00:30:31because no publisher would have taken the full version.
00:30:34In fact, they rejected even the shorter version.
00:30:37The book was published, did not, I think, get a lot of attention at first.
00:30:44But then, you know, had this extraordinary life.
00:30:51The night that is described here still hangs over many parts of the world.
00:30:57And no one, nor anything, can promise us that it won't threaten us tomorrow.
00:31:03He brings us to Auschwitz with him.
00:31:09It is both this specific account of this boy's traumatic experience,
00:31:15and it's at the same time this kind of eternal mythical account.
00:31:22I witnessed hangings in the camp.
00:31:27One day, we saw three gallows rearing up in the assembly place,
00:31:34three victims in chains, and one of them, the little servant, the sad-eyed angel.
00:31:43To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter.
00:31:48The head of the camp read the verdict.
00:31:52All eyes wore on the child.
00:31:54The three victims mounted together onto the chairs.
00:31:58The three necks were placed at the same moment within the nooses.
00:32:03Long live liberty, cried the two adults.
00:32:08But the child was silent.
00:32:10At the sign from the head of the camp, the three chairs stepped over.
00:32:15Total silence throughout the camp.
00:32:17The two adults were no longer alive.
00:32:20But the third rope was still moving.
00:32:24Being so light, so light, the child was still alive.
00:32:31For more than half an hour, he stayed there, struggling between life and death,
00:32:36dying in slow agony under our eyes.
00:32:41And behind me, I heard, Where is God now?
00:32:46And I heard a voice within me answer him,
00:32:49He is hanging here on these gallows.
00:32:56Never shall I forget that night,
00:32:59the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night.
00:33:05Never shall I forget those moments, which murdered my God and my soul,
00:33:11and turned my dreams to dust.
00:33:14If I survived, it must be for some reason.
00:33:18History is vital.
00:33:20You can't understand the Holocaust without knowing the history.
00:33:25But you need more than the history.
00:33:28You have to be able to imagine some of these things.
00:33:30You will never know why, and Ellie said this early on,
00:33:34if you weren't there, you won't know.
00:33:36You have to take students and readers further than that.
00:33:41You have to help them to imagine what is it like,
00:33:45for example, to get up in the morning and you're starving.
00:33:49And when you go to bed at night, you're still starving.
00:33:53And knowing you're going to get up the next morning, you're also going to be starving.
00:33:57And it may all end and you're being shot or sent to the gas chamber.
00:34:01How do we help people to imagine what that must have been like?
00:34:08But even if you read all the books, all the documents by all the survivors, you would still not know.
00:34:17Only those who were there know what it meant being there.
00:34:26While I write, what else could I do?
00:34:31I write to bear witness.
00:34:44The more I remembered, the more I felt excluded and alone.
00:34:51Whom was I to lean on?
00:34:54I shunned love, aspiring only to silence, aspiring only to madness.
00:35:04I believe that the war was a genius, a universal genius, a human genius, like a fire.
00:35:12And I believe that all of us who have experienced this war, either as a victim, as a police officer,
00:35:21or even as a witness,
00:35:25will still keep traces of this madness that will come out of one day.
00:35:28Eli had a part of him that was very, very difficult to reach and very tough.
00:35:38I thought he would never have children.
00:35:42The first time I met him was at my friend's.
00:35:45This was at a dinner party in her house, and she was my closest friend.
00:35:50And she said to me, you're meeting Elie Wiesel.
00:35:54I just want you to know he's a very interesting guy, but not somebody you would ever think of marrying.
00:36:03After this dinner, we had one date, and we both knew that it was going to be.
00:36:12Once he met Marion, a switch occurred.
00:36:17She released in him the thirst to live a little bit more normally as a human being.
00:36:26Of what does a man dream when he is forty years old and has made the decision, consecrated by the
00:36:33law of Moses, to make a home with the woman he loves?
00:36:38Custom dictates that before his wedding, an orphan go to meditate at the grave of his parents.
00:36:45But these grooms' parents, like millions of others, had no grave of their own.
00:36:49All creation was their cemetery.
00:36:55He had told me from the beginning he didn't want children.
00:36:58He said, I don't want to bring a child into this world.
00:37:03I convinced him.
00:37:06When Elisha was born, Elie became more religious.
00:37:13He had never stopped being religious.
00:37:16He uncovered it.
00:37:17It was like peeling off layers of non-religion.
00:37:22And his true self emerged, which was religious.
00:37:27At this particular time, Elie did tremendous traveling.
00:37:31He would leave Elisha notes, and he'd say, I'm not here, but I will be back, and tomorrow we shall
00:37:38celebrate again, my son.
00:37:40I would say to myself, I can't believe that he's leaving these notes to this, like, three-year-old.
00:37:46When I see my son, I tell him stories.
00:37:50And I sing him tunes about tales to be told one day by him.
00:37:56And then he smiles, and his smile is not his alone.
00:38:02His smile is my grandfather's, who went to his death, perhaps dancing and singing about my son.
00:38:16My son there is the name of my father.
00:38:20One day he saw the number of my aunt.
00:38:22He said, who will it do?
00:38:23And why?
00:38:25And who were the wicked people who did that?
00:38:27And why did they do it with the entire Jewish people?
00:38:31And why?
00:38:33For the whole power.
00:38:35There's no feeling he knows, who knows about.
00:38:40It wasn't easy for Elisha as he went through school.
00:38:44Everywhere he was, Elie's son, he didn't have a chance to be himself.
00:38:51It was very difficult to be a six- or seven-year-old, and you're out at the playground,
00:38:57talking about what do your parents do for a living.
00:38:59And one kid is, oh, my dad, you know, he used to be in the Israeli Air Force,
00:39:03and now he flies LL plane, and the other kid is, oh, my dad's a pharmacy.
00:39:07He gets medicine to help sick people.
00:39:10And I'm like, I think something really bad happened to my dad,
00:39:13and now he writes or talks about it.
00:39:15It was very confusing.
00:39:16How do you ground yourself in your parents' career around that?
00:39:21I don't think I really processed night until I traveled with my father to Seget in 1995
00:39:30with my cousin Steve.
00:39:34My father almost, I saw him almost as a radio transmitter
00:39:40that could pick up frequencies that no one else was picking up.
00:39:48And it's because he was picking up the ghosts, and he made them real for us.
00:39:57Even if he didn't talk about them, the way it weighed on him made it extremely real.
00:40:04And it really was on that trip that I think it hit in a deep way for the first time
00:40:11that the Nazis had killed a woman who should have grown up to be my aunt.
00:40:21The transformation in, I think, American Jewish awareness of Holocaust and the breakthrough
00:40:27of Ellie's recognition came with the Six-Day War.
00:40:33Everybody was convinced the Holocaust is about to occur again.
00:40:37With the success of the Holocaust TV show, suddenly you could teach the Holocaust in schools, right?
00:40:44It could be part of the curriculum.
00:40:47Prior to the 70s, 80s, survivors were not encouraged to talk about what they endured.
00:40:53And Ellie was perhaps the first person to encourage them.
00:41:00No one has taught us more than Ellie Wiesel.
00:41:04His life is testimony that the human spirit endures and prevails.
00:41:09Memory can fail us, for it can fade as the generations change.
00:41:13But Ellie Wiesel has helped make the memory of the Holocaust eternal.
00:41:20Ellie, we present you with this medal as an expression of our gratitude for your life's work.
00:41:33Ellie was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
00:41:36What happened the week that Ellie was going to receive the medal was the whole uproar about Bidberg.
00:41:42Reagan was going to go to Germany for a state visit.
00:41:45And he was asked by President Kohl to visit a cemetery of German soldiers.
00:41:51And it turns out that there were Waffen-SS soldiers buried in that cemetery.
00:41:56And so this got a tremendous amount of publicity.
00:42:01The Holocaust must never be forgotten by any of us.
00:42:06And in not forgetting it, we should make it clear
00:42:10that we're determined the Holocaust must never take place again.
00:42:15And I think that it would be very hurtful.
00:42:21And all it would do is leave me looking as if I caved in in the face of some unfavorable
00:42:27attention.
00:42:28I think that there's nothing wrong with visiting that cemetery where those young men are victims of Nazism also.
00:42:37Even though they were fighting in the German uniform,
00:42:40drafted into service to carry out the hateful wishes of the Nazis,
00:42:47they were victims just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps.
00:42:52And I feel that there's much to be gained from this.
00:42:57And in strengthening our relationship with the German people who, believe me, live in constant penance,
00:43:06all these who have come along in these later years for what their predecessors did,
00:43:12and for which they're very ashamed.
00:43:15And we were in a hotel room in Washington, there for the event.
00:43:23And one after the other, many of the important leaders of the Jewish organizations
00:43:32came to see Elie.
00:43:34They came to the room in our hotel, and they pleaded with Elie.
00:43:38They didn't want him to go against the president's wishes.
00:43:44And they felt that it was better to leave things unsaid.
00:43:52Well, do we have a...
00:43:53We have about five minutes.
00:43:54Well, why don't we take some chairs over here?
00:43:57Where would you like to sit?
00:44:00You know that we are in France.
00:44:02Yes.
00:44:03We are in France.
00:44:04What I've been hoping for is that you know I am yours.
00:44:08We have been your friends for many, many years.
00:44:11We still are very, very devoted to you.
00:44:13And we came a few days ago, then, don't leave him.
00:44:17I feel the same thing.
00:44:18We are on the same side.
00:44:19We are with you.
00:44:20We are trying simply to help you.
00:44:24To help you stay in your image of ours in the country.
00:44:28I know that it is a good one.
00:44:29Of course we will.
00:44:30We have to make decisions in stability and problems.
00:44:33We don't have any decisions.
00:44:35I know that.
00:44:35But we are here to help you.
00:44:38And to gain some background and some understanding of why certain words hurt us.
00:44:45Not you.
00:44:46Certain words hurt us.
00:44:47And certain experience.
00:44:50It's nothing that will change our friendship for you.
00:44:56We are together.
00:44:58Well, I think that we're all the victims right now of a lack of understanding.
00:45:03Let me make clear what is taking place.
00:45:06I have to say that I've always believed forgiveness is divine.
00:45:11But I don't think I'm ever going to be able to forgive the press for their handling of this and
00:45:16what they've done.
00:45:17When the cemetery there was built, Helmut himself did not know the presence of about 30
00:45:23graves of SS troops.
00:45:26There are 3,000 of us all told there.
00:45:30And I did not mean, when I said they were victims too, that their experience in any way was parallel
00:45:37to yours.
00:45:39I simply meant that I think everyone who died in that war, on all sides, were victims of the Nazi
00:45:47terror, the horror that that man loosed on the world.
00:45:51Even in cold, when that was decided, was not aware.
00:45:56And as a matter of fact, he needed a personal visit.
00:45:59And as you know, the tombstones there are flush with the ground.
00:46:04And it had snowed.
00:46:07And he, in good faith, said, no, there are no SS in the cemetery.
00:46:14Well, I think it's safe to say that the president's remarks during his entire trip in Germany,
00:46:21will draw a distinction between the German soldier and the SS.
00:46:26And that he will in no way condemn, I mean, approve or say any kind of approving word
00:46:34regarding SS, Nazis, or the Third Reich.
00:46:39In order to diminish the publicity, the White House set the stage in a small room instead of the larger
00:46:46room.
00:46:46Of course, they didn't want the publicity of Ellie receiving the medal and what he might say.
00:46:51It turns out, their plans didn't work out because NBC broadcast Ellie's speech live.
00:47:00First, give this medal to my son.
00:47:10I am grateful to you for the medal, but this medal is not mine alone.
00:47:15It belongs to all those who remember what SS killers have done to their victims.
00:47:21It was given to me by the American people for my writings, teaching, and for my testimony.
00:47:29While I feel responsible for the living, I feel equally responsible to the dead.
00:47:36Their memory dwells in my memory.
00:47:40Forty years ago, a young man awoke and he found himself an orphan in an orphaned world.
00:47:45What have I learned in the last 40 years?
00:47:49I learned the perilous of language and those of silence.
00:47:54I learned that in extreme situations when human lives and dignity are at stake,
00:47:59neutrality is a sin.
00:48:01It helps the killers, not the victims.
00:48:05But I have also learned that suffering confers no privileges.
00:48:09It all depends what one does with it.
00:48:11And this is why survivors of whom you spoke, Mr. President, have tried to teach their contemporaries
00:48:17how to build on ruins.
00:48:21How to invent hope in a world that offers none.
00:48:25How to proclaim faith to a generation that has seen it shamed and mutilated.
00:48:33We believe that memory is the answer, perhaps the only answer.
00:48:38Mr. President, I wouldn't be the person I am and you wouldn't respect me for what I am.
00:48:46Mr. President, if I were not to tell you also of the sadness that is in my heart for what
00:48:51happened
00:48:52during the last week, and I am sure that you too are sad for the same reasons.
00:48:59Our tradition commands us, quote, to speak truth to power.
00:49:05So may I speak to you, Mr. President, with respect and admiration.
00:49:10For I know of your commitment to humanity, and therefore I am convinced, as you have told us earlier when
00:49:18we spoke,
00:49:18that you were not aware of the presence of SS Graves in the Bidberg Cemetery.
00:49:23Of course you didn't know.
00:49:26But now we all are aware.
00:49:29May I, Mr. President, if it's possible at all, implore you to do something else, to find a way,
00:49:38to find another way, another site.
00:49:42That place, Mr. President, is not your place.
00:49:45Your place is with the victims of the SS.
00:49:49Oh, we know there are political and strategic reasons.
00:49:53But this issue, as all issues related to that awesome event, transcends politics and diplomacy.
00:50:01The issue here is not politics, but good and evil.
00:50:06And we must never confuse them.
00:50:08For I have seen the SS at work, and I have seen their victims.
00:50:13But, Mr. President, I know and I understand, we all do, that you seek reconciliation.
00:50:19And so do I, so do we.
00:50:22And I, too, wish to attain true reconciliation with the German people.
00:50:28I do not believe in collective guilt, nor in collective responsibility.
00:50:34Only the killers were guilty.
00:50:38Their sons and daughters are not.
00:50:41And I believe, Mr. President, that we can, and we must work together with them,
00:50:49and with all people.
00:50:51And we must work to bring peace and understanding to a tormented world,
00:50:56that, as you know, is still awaiting redemption.
00:51:09And Elie told me that after a speech, Elie thought that he might have convinced Reagan,
00:51:17until George Bush came up to him and said, so you'll, so you'll go with us.
00:51:23He speaks just now that the President would go to Bergen-Belsen, and he will go to Bitburg.
00:51:28So apparently your plea has not, at least immediately, been answered.
00:51:32Does that surprise you?
00:51:33You know, I said earlier, I'm romantic, you know, I'm a big romantic.
00:51:38I thought that since I will make this plea to him, implore him, that he will get up and say,
00:51:46okay.
00:51:47No.
00:51:48You didn't really expect that.
00:51:50Mr. Wiesel, what you did today was really quite extraordinary.
00:51:53A nationwide television, in effect, giving the President something of a moral lecture here.
00:51:58What were your thoughts about doing that?
00:52:00I am not a moralist. I'm a teacher.
00:52:02I'm not a politician. That's my strength.
00:52:04You were giving him a lesson.
00:52:05No. I told him a story. I'm a storyteller.
00:52:09He made people think about what they were here for and what was important and what was not.
00:52:17He was able to translate it into terms that touched people.
00:52:32Dear Elie Wiesel, we have been told that you said when your son was born that you felt sorry for
00:52:43him coming into this ugly and evil world.
00:52:49After a second thought, however, you drew a different conclusion.
00:52:54Thinking of yourself as a link in a long, long chain of generations,
00:53:02I think it would be appropriate that your son, with such a precious burden on his shoulders,
00:53:11should follow you up to the podium when you receive the Peace Prize.
00:53:18It was a very, very exciting time, but everybody reacted differently.
00:53:24They asked Alicia at the time, in 1986, he was 14.
00:53:30They said, how does it affect you?
00:53:33And his answer was, my allowance will increase. That's it.
00:53:38I had realized, as a young person, at age 14, that my identity was very much viewed as being in
00:53:49the shadow of my father.
00:53:51For me, it was just the epitome of everything I didn't want, being known further as just an appendage to
00:53:57my father.
00:53:59It's 3.35 in the morning on his birthday, 1990.
00:54:03Dear Dad, I'm writing this letter at a rather late hour.
00:54:06I went with a friend to see a hardcore band, the Circle Jerks, play at the Ritz.
00:54:10The slam dancing was rough, and there were some people who got hurt, nothing too serious.
00:54:15All the injuries were unintended. The dance is a violent one, and these things happen.
00:54:19I know you don't want to accept any such analogy, but to some extent I feel it is applicable to
00:54:23us.
00:54:24We are driven in different directions, as no two dancers can ever be going in the exact same direction.
00:54:31We both get injured from time to time, even by each other, and yet we both get up a bit
00:54:35dazed and rejoin the dance.
00:54:37Our love is stronger than the occasional injuries which occur.
00:54:40I love you always. I miss you. I never wanted to hurt you.
00:54:44I never will, despite whatever I do with my life.
00:54:52So here's one that he wrote to me in 1991.
00:54:57He wrote this in an Israeli bunker as the scuds were falling during Gulf War I.
00:55:04And this letter was actually in a sealed envelope at the time that he passed. My mom discovered it.
00:55:10These were his sort of last words to me, in case he never got another chance to tell me what
00:55:15was on his mind.
00:55:16And he says,
00:55:17My dear Alicia, if you promise not to be angry, I will tell you something. I love you.
00:55:24Should anything happen to me in Israel, I hope you will remember at least some of the things I tried
00:55:29to share with you.
00:55:32Remember my father, after whom you have been named.
00:55:37Remember that you are a Jew.
00:55:40Remember that even within the doubt, there is a God, the God of Israel.
00:55:45Take care of yourself.
00:55:46You have been and remain the center of my life.
00:55:51With infinite love, your father.
00:55:54For Alicia, and for me as well, having babies has been that process of coming back to ourselves and our
00:56:05centers and our upbringings, our faith.
00:56:13And frankly, these are ladybugs.
00:56:16The ladybugs.
00:56:18Yeah.
00:56:20They don't bite.
00:56:21They don't bite.
00:56:22They don't bite anyone.
00:56:24They don't bite.
00:56:26What memories do you have of your grandfather?
00:56:30What memories do you have of your grandfather?
00:56:30Okay, I remember in his study when I was little, every morning, he and I would both wake up early.
00:56:39and in the mornings he'd go up to his study
00:56:41and he'd put on his tefillin
00:56:43and I would just stand outside his study
00:56:46opening and closing the doors.
00:56:48Sometimes it feels like there's so much pressure on me
00:56:52to be like my dad and my grandpa.
00:56:57I definitely agree.
00:57:01I...
00:57:02Wow.
00:57:04Wow, so...
00:57:05100%.
00:57:06The two things Ellie asked of Elisha
00:57:10were that he marry a Jewish woman
00:57:15and that he recite Kaddish after he passed.
00:57:19So Elisha did just that.
00:57:21But somewhere in that journey,
00:57:23Elisha realized it was a gift for himself.
00:57:36And then, gradually, Elisha started to reintroduce more tradition
00:57:43into our lives, into his life,
00:57:46and really did a deep dive into Judaism.
00:57:50So are you ready for a quick one?
00:57:52Yes.
00:57:53All right.
00:57:54Okay, baby.
00:58:00Oh.
00:58:01I like the Grand Prix variation.
00:58:04Oh.
00:58:07That's a latke?
00:58:08Yes.
00:58:09Doesn't look like a latke.
00:58:11It's a latke?
00:58:11I know.
00:58:12It just made it.
00:58:14Really?
00:58:14You're blaming it on me now?
00:58:18I told Anne that it was your final test
00:58:21before Dad would marry you,
00:58:23that you had to make a latke.
00:58:24If you wouldn't have married me,
00:58:25you wouldn't exist.
00:58:26If this was a latke?
00:58:28Yeah.
00:58:30It's time to light the candles.
00:58:38Baruch atah Adonai.
00:58:40I've always been a little afraid of religion of any kind.
00:58:45I know that I was always afraid of anything
00:58:48that compromised one's will
00:58:52and relegated it to an inferior position,
00:58:56to something else, which was religion.
00:59:01So I was a pagan in the family.
00:59:04My faith is a wounded faith.
00:59:08But it's not without faith.
00:59:10My wife is not without faith.
00:59:11I didn't divorce God.
00:59:13What I think was special about him
00:59:17was that he saw the trauma
00:59:22as something that has to lead to moral action.
00:59:26I swore never to be silent
00:59:30whenever and wherever
00:59:33human beings and you
00:59:35suffering and humiliation.
00:59:38Human suffering anywhere
00:59:40concerns men and women everywhere.
00:59:45And in spite of what some extreme critics
00:59:49have said about me,
00:59:53that principle applies in my life
00:59:57also to the Palestinians.
00:59:59to whose plight I am sensitive,
01:00:04but whose methods I deplore
01:00:07when they lead to violence.
01:00:10Violence is not the answer.
01:00:14Both the Jewish people
01:00:16and the Palestinian people
01:00:18have lost too many sons
01:00:20and shed too much blood.
01:00:24This must stop.
01:00:27He didn't want to criticise Israel
01:00:30under any circumstance.
01:00:31He didn't want to criticise the occupation.
01:00:34He didn't want to criticise the settlers.
01:00:38He may not have agreed with them,
01:00:41but he didn't want to criticise them.
01:00:43Ever.
01:00:46And we have learned that when people suffer,
01:00:48we cannot remain indifferent.
01:00:51And Mr. President,
01:00:52I cannot not tell you something.
01:00:55I have been in the former Yugoslavia
01:00:58last fall.
01:01:01I cannot sleep since.
01:01:03We must do something
01:01:05to stop the bloodshed in that country.
01:01:09The number one lesson that I learned from him
01:01:12was your suffering
01:01:16is not what defines you,
01:01:19but it informs you.
01:01:20It can shape you.
01:01:22And then it's your job
01:01:24to make it the best tool that you can.
01:01:28If you had to summarise
01:01:30the greatest offering
01:01:32that you've been able
01:01:34to give your students,
01:01:36what would that be?
01:01:38I came up with a formula.
01:01:40I'm not sure it's always good,
01:01:42but I said simply,
01:01:43look, whatever you do in your life,
01:01:46remember,
01:01:48think higher and feel deeper.
01:01:50The last day of a semester,
01:01:52a student asked Professor Rizal,
01:01:53Professor, can you show us
01:01:54the number on your arm?
01:01:57And there was dead silence in the room.
01:02:00And without a word,
01:02:02he took off his jacket
01:02:02and rolled up his sleeve
01:02:04and showed the number on his arm
01:02:05to the class.
01:02:06There were about 65 or 70 students
01:02:08in the class.
01:02:09And in silence,
01:02:10he rolled his sleeve back down
01:02:12and buttoned it
01:02:13and put his jacket back on
01:02:15and said, next question.
01:02:18I do not believe
01:02:19that there are,
01:02:21that there could be,
01:02:22or even there should be,
01:02:23novels about the Holocaust.
01:02:26either a novel is a novel
01:02:28or it is not.
01:02:31And when it is about the Holocaust,
01:02:33it is not.
01:02:34And I have to tell you that
01:02:36I have never been so angry,
01:02:39never been so conscious
01:02:40of my responsibility
01:02:41as a teacher
01:02:42than when I am in front of
01:02:45these children.
01:02:47Because I am responsible
01:02:49for the world
01:02:50that I have to leave
01:02:53and that I have destroyed
01:02:54for them,
01:02:55that we have destroyed
01:02:56for them,
01:02:57and now it is for them
01:02:58to rebuild them
01:02:59through ruins.
01:03:00He developed
01:03:03very strong relationships
01:03:05with all of his students.
01:03:06I saw them being transformed.
01:03:09Part of what we had
01:03:10to do each semester
01:03:11was you would choose a book
01:03:13from the list of texts
01:03:17that you're reading
01:03:18and you would present,
01:03:20you would give a little
01:03:21wee presentation on the book
01:03:22that week
01:03:23and everybody was always
01:03:24super nervous about it.
01:03:25When I got up
01:03:26to give the presentation
01:03:28and I was talking
01:03:29about this character
01:03:30who had very dark skin
01:03:32and those things,
01:03:33I realized how much
01:03:34it, like, affected me.
01:03:38And in the moment
01:03:39that I was in the class,
01:03:40I broke out in the tears.
01:03:42Because that space
01:03:44was open
01:03:44to talk about memory,
01:03:47right,
01:03:48and to talk about
01:03:49things like trauma,
01:03:52people were open.
01:03:54remember the enemy.
01:03:58And that is an attitude
01:04:00which is
01:04:00a very strong attitude.
01:04:04Imagine the victim
01:04:05simply saying
01:04:06to the torturer,
01:04:07look,
01:04:08you can do whatever you want,
01:04:09but I will remember you.
01:04:13This is what frightens
01:04:14the enemy most,
01:04:16usually.
01:04:17Nothing frightens
01:04:18the enemy more.
01:04:19To be vanquished,
01:04:20okay,
01:04:21vanquished today,
01:04:23come back tomorrow.
01:04:25But the idea
01:04:26that the victim
01:04:27will remember
01:04:28the enemy,
01:04:29the memory will remain,
01:04:30that is a real punishment.
01:04:33Memory is what
01:04:34makes us civilized.
01:04:35You know,
01:04:36like,
01:04:36that is what makes us human.
01:04:38And
01:04:40never again
01:04:41means something to me.
01:04:42Right?
01:04:43It's,
01:04:43that is,
01:04:44that I have a responsibility
01:04:46that goes beyond
01:04:48myself and my beliefs
01:04:50and that I'm a part
01:04:51of this
01:04:54global community.
01:04:56I grew up
01:04:57in the very
01:04:58southwest part
01:05:00of Germany
01:05:00and all my classmates
01:05:02and myself
01:05:03were very much
01:05:04interested in
01:05:05political questions.
01:05:07One day,
01:05:08I met somebody
01:05:09and he said,
01:05:10read the book
01:05:11Night by Elie Wiesel.
01:05:12I couldn't manage
01:05:15more than one or two
01:05:16pages a day
01:05:17because it moved me
01:05:19so much.
01:05:20And so
01:05:21I said to
01:05:23I must
01:05:24Elie Wiesel
01:05:25to learn
01:05:25and I packed my
01:05:27cover and
01:05:27went to the
01:05:28Boston University
01:05:29and studied there
01:05:30by him.
01:05:31The first time
01:05:32a professor
01:05:33said to me
01:05:34Reinhold,
01:05:35it is good
01:05:35that you are here.
01:05:37That had
01:05:38to me
01:05:38no one
01:05:39said before.
01:05:40As much
01:05:41as you
01:05:42will learn
01:05:42from me,
01:05:43I will learn
01:05:44from you.
01:05:45And
01:05:46we had a lot
01:05:47spoken,
01:05:47talked a lot,
01:05:49talked a lot,
01:05:50and then I
01:05:50opened the
01:05:50conversations
01:05:52and then
01:05:53translated,
01:05:54published,
01:05:55and that
01:05:56gave my life
01:05:58a different direction.
01:06:03I hope
01:06:04there are
01:06:06more and more
01:06:06young people
01:06:08your kind
01:06:08in Germany.
01:06:09Not only for
01:06:10many,
01:06:10but for
01:06:10Germany.
01:06:12That is the hope.
01:06:13We must
01:06:14strengthen that hope.
01:06:16And therefore
01:06:17you become
01:06:17not only
01:06:18educators,
01:06:18but in your
01:06:19own lives.
01:06:20You are
01:06:20living
01:06:22examples
01:06:22for others
01:06:23to follow.
01:06:26Vergiss
01:06:26nicht,
01:06:27dass du
01:06:27in deinem
01:06:27Konzentrationslager
01:06:28bist.
01:06:29Hier muss
01:06:29jeder
01:06:30für sich
01:06:30selbst
01:06:31kämpfen
01:06:31und darf
01:06:32nicht an
01:06:32die
01:06:33anderen
01:06:33denken.
01:06:34Nicht
01:06:34mal
01:06:34an
01:06:34seinen
01:06:34Vater.
01:06:36Hier
01:06:36erzählt
01:06:36weder
01:06:36Vater
01:06:37noch
01:06:37Bruder
01:06:37noch
01:06:38Freund.
01:06:39The
01:06:39fact
01:06:40that
01:06:40Heli
01:06:40said
01:06:41I'm
01:06:41not
01:06:42going
01:06:42to
01:06:42be
01:06:43silent.
01:06:44And
01:06:45so
01:06:45much
01:06:45of my
01:06:46life
01:06:48people
01:06:48tell
01:06:49you
01:06:49this
01:06:51tall
01:06:51dark-skinned
01:06:52black man
01:06:53to shut
01:06:53up.
01:06:54That what
01:06:55you have to
01:06:55say is not
01:06:56that important.
01:06:57Who you
01:06:57are is not
01:06:58important.
01:06:59And that
01:07:01100-page book
01:07:01says,
01:07:02no,
01:07:02I got a
01:07:03story.
01:07:04The
01:07:04commentary
01:07:05in the
01:07:05Talmud
01:07:06is,
01:07:07if you
01:07:07are
01:07:08my
01:07:09witnesses,
01:07:10I am
01:07:10God.
01:07:12If you
01:07:12are not,
01:07:13I am
01:07:14not.
01:07:15My
01:07:15God.
01:07:16My
01:07:17God,
01:07:17I just want
01:07:17to say
01:07:18that,
01:07:20and to
01:07:20accept it
01:07:20as part
01:07:21of
01:07:21belief.
01:07:22I
01:07:22give
01:07:22up,
01:07:23which
01:07:23means
01:07:24what
01:07:24Heschel
01:07:24said,
01:07:25know,
01:07:25God
01:07:25in
01:07:26quest
01:07:26of
01:07:26man,
01:07:26in
01:07:27search
01:07:27of
01:07:27man.
01:07:28You
01:07:28need,
01:07:28God
01:07:29needs
01:07:29human
01:07:29beings,
01:07:30us,
01:07:30little
01:07:31specks
01:07:32of
01:07:32us to
01:07:32be
01:07:33God.
01:07:35The
01:07:35mystical
01:07:36teaching
01:07:36tells
01:07:37us
01:07:37that
01:07:37it
01:07:37is
01:07:38possible
01:07:38for
01:07:38any
01:07:39person
01:07:40to
01:07:40bring
01:07:40the
01:07:41Messiah
01:07:41to
01:07:42the
01:07:42whole
01:07:42world.
01:07:43And I
01:07:44believe in
01:07:44it.
01:07:45I
01:07:46no
01:07:46longer
01:07:46believe
01:07:47in
01:07:47it.
01:07:48I
01:07:48believe
01:07:49today
01:07:49that
01:07:49it's
01:07:50possible
01:07:50for
01:07:51you
01:07:51or
01:07:52me
01:07:52or
01:07:52anyone
01:07:53to
01:07:54bring
01:07:54a
01:07:55moment,
01:07:56a
01:07:56messianic
01:07:57moment
01:07:57to
01:07:58each
01:07:58other.
01:07:59If
01:08:00I
01:08:00could
01:08:01simply
01:08:01bring
01:08:01a
01:08:02messianic
01:08:02moment
01:08:02into
01:08:03the
01:08:03life
01:08:03of
01:08:03one
01:08:03person,
01:08:04I
01:08:05think
01:08:05that
01:08:05my
01:08:05life
01:08:06would
01:08:06have
01:08:06been
01:08:06justified.
01:08:09Night
01:08:09is to
01:08:10me of
01:08:10course
01:08:10a
01:08:10very
01:08:11special
01:08:11book.
01:08:12It
01:08:12is
01:08:12the
01:08:12basis
01:08:13for
01:08:13all
01:08:14the
01:08:14other
01:08:14books,
01:08:15the
01:08:15foundation.
01:08:18Good
01:08:18afternoon.
01:08:19Good
01:08:19afternoon.
01:08:20Good
01:08:20afternoon.
01:08:24I'm
01:08:25going to
01:08:25start
01:08:25chapter
01:08:26one
01:08:26of Night
01:08:26by
01:08:27Elie
01:08:27Wiesel.
01:08:28We're
01:08:28going to
01:08:28learn
01:08:28about
01:08:29Elie's
01:08:29family
01:08:30and
01:08:31sort
01:08:31of
01:08:31his
01:08:31introduction
01:08:32to
01:08:32Judaism,
01:08:33like who
01:08:33he is
01:08:34as a
01:08:34person,
01:08:34and we're
01:08:35going to
01:08:35slowly
01:08:35transition
01:08:35into
01:08:36this
01:08:37ominous
01:08:37mood
01:08:38of the
01:08:38Holocaust
01:08:39brewing
01:08:39in the
01:08:40background.
01:08:40Let's
01:08:40open up
01:08:41to
01:08:41chapter
01:08:41one.
01:08:42This
01:08:42is our
01:08:42five to
01:08:43six
01:08:43weeks
01:08:43to
01:08:43really
01:08:43focus
01:08:44on
01:08:44Elie
01:08:45Wiesel.
01:08:47I
01:08:48met
01:08:48him
01:08:48in
01:08:481941.
01:08:49I
01:08:49was
01:08:50almost
01:08:5013
01:08:50and
01:08:51deeply
01:08:51observant.
01:08:53Raise
01:08:53your hand
01:08:53if you're
01:08:5313
01:08:54in
01:08:54here.
01:08:55Look
01:08:55at
01:08:55you.
01:08:57So
01:08:57in a
01:08:57lot
01:08:57of
01:08:57ways
01:08:57this
01:08:58is
01:08:58a
01:08:58story
01:08:58that
01:08:58could
01:08:59relate
01:08:59to
01:08:59us.
01:09:00Let's
01:09:00keep
01:09:00going.
01:09:01Kids
01:09:02know
01:09:02that
01:09:02six
01:09:03million
01:09:04people
01:09:04who
01:09:04are
01:09:04Jewish
01:09:05died
01:09:05and
01:09:06were
01:09:06killed.
01:09:06And
01:09:07so
01:09:07they
01:09:07have
01:09:07some
01:09:07context
01:09:08about
01:09:08how
01:09:08Hitler
01:09:08came
01:09:09to
01:09:09power.
01:09:10They
01:09:10have
01:09:11some
01:09:11context
01:09:11about
01:09:11what
01:09:12it
01:09:12means
01:09:12to
01:09:12practice
01:09:13Judaism
01:09:14and
01:09:14some
01:09:15general
01:09:15ideas
01:09:16about
01:09:16what
01:09:16the
01:09:16world
01:09:17was
01:09:17going
01:09:17through
01:09:17around
01:09:17World
01:09:17War II.
01:09:19Regular
01:09:19normal
01:09:20Germans
01:09:21that
01:09:21were
01:09:21sophisticated
01:09:22and
01:09:23intelligent
01:09:23they
01:09:25conformed
01:09:26with
01:09:26Hitler.
01:09:27Six
01:09:27million
01:09:28Jews
01:09:28were
01:09:29murdered
01:09:30because
01:09:30of
01:09:31the
01:09:31fact
01:09:31that
01:09:31they
01:09:31were
01:09:32deemed
01:09:32as
01:09:33genetically
01:09:33inferior
01:09:34due
01:09:34to
01:09:34the
01:09:34fact
01:09:34that
01:09:35maybe
01:09:35they
01:09:36weren't
01:09:36fully
01:09:36German
01:09:37or
01:09:37that
01:09:37they
01:09:37had
01:09:38disabilities.
01:09:38How
01:09:39is
01:09:39a
01:09:40mood
01:09:40of
01:09:40being
01:09:40in
01:09:40the
01:09:41ghettos
01:09:41different
01:09:41from
01:09:42the
01:09:42mood
01:09:42of
01:09:42children
01:09:42playing
01:09:43in
01:09:43the
01:09:43street?
01:09:43How
01:09:43did
01:09:44the
01:09:44mood
01:09:44change
01:09:44in
01:09:44ghettos?
01:09:45Back
01:09:45then
01:09:46ghettos
01:09:46also
01:09:47described
01:09:48something
01:09:48negative
01:09:48that
01:09:49still
01:09:51means
01:09:52something
01:09:52negative
01:09:52to this
01:09:53day.
01:09:54They're
01:09:54really
01:09:55trying
01:09:55to
01:09:55see
01:09:55are
01:09:56we
01:09:56similar
01:09:56to
01:09:57Wezel?
01:09:57Would
01:09:58we
01:09:58react
01:09:58in
01:09:58that
01:09:58way?
01:09:59Can
01:09:59we
01:09:59imagine
01:09:59it?
01:10:00Most
01:10:00of
01:10:00us
01:10:00cannot.
01:10:01How
01:10:01did
01:10:01normal
01:10:01people
01:10:02get
01:10:03to
01:10:03this
01:10:03point
01:10:04where
01:10:05tragedy
01:10:05like
01:10:05this
01:10:06could
01:10:06happen?
01:10:11the
01:10:11same
01:10:11thing
01:10:12all
01:10:12at
01:10:12the
01:10:13same
01:10:13time.
01:10:14So
01:10:14if
01:10:15everybody
01:10:15hears
01:10:16the
01:10:16same
01:10:16thing
01:10:17all
01:10:17at
01:10:17the
01:10:17same
01:10:17time
01:10:17they
01:10:18would
01:10:18all
01:10:18think
01:10:18oh
01:10:19since
01:10:19he's
01:10:20doing
01:10:20it
01:10:20I
01:10:20should
01:10:21do
01:10:21it.
01:10:21People
01:10:22were
01:10:22ignorant
01:10:22to
01:10:22the
01:10:23idea
01:10:23that
01:10:23they
01:10:24were
01:10:24just
01:10:24killing
01:10:24innocent
01:10:25people
01:10:25that
01:10:25they
01:10:25didn't
01:10:26know.
01:10:26Most
01:10:27of
01:10:27our
01:10:27students
01:10:27are
01:10:28from
01:10:28Newark
01:10:28live
01:10:28in
01:10:29Newark
01:10:29They
01:10:30come
01:10:30from
01:10:30backgrounds
01:10:30that
01:10:31are
01:10:31not
01:10:32they've
01:10:33never
01:10:33experienced
01:10:33anything
01:10:34like
01:10:34the
01:10:34Holocaust
01:10:35but
01:10:35the
01:10:36context
01:10:36the
01:10:36sort
01:10:36of
01:10:37underbrewing
01:10:37tones
01:10:37of
01:10:38violence
01:10:38in
01:10:39a
01:10:39lot
01:10:39of
01:10:39ways
01:10:39the
01:10:40undertones
01:10:40are
01:10:41similar.
01:10:42How does
01:10:43his
01:10:43relationship
01:10:43with
01:10:43his
01:10:44father
01:10:44shift?
01:10:45He's
01:10:46probably
01:10:46going
01:10:46to be
01:10:46feeling
01:10:46anger
01:10:47for
01:10:48being
01:10:48like
01:10:48having
01:10:48to
01:10:48take
01:10:48care
01:10:49of
01:10:49his
01:10:49father
01:10:49at
01:10:4916
01:10:50in
01:10:50a
01:10:50situation
01:10:51like
01:10:51this.
01:10:51I
01:10:51feel
01:10:52like
01:10:52everything
01:10:52bad
01:10:53that
01:10:53happened
01:10:53made
01:10:54we
01:10:54so
01:10:54stronger
01:10:55since
01:10:56now
01:10:56he
01:10:56has
01:10:56to
01:10:57care
01:10:57for
01:10:57his
01:10:57father
01:10:58I
01:10:59kind
01:10:59of
01:10:59disagree
01:10:59when
01:10:59Isabel
01:11:00said
01:11:00that
01:11:00made
01:11:00him
01:11:00stronger
01:11:01in
01:11:01the
01:11:01end
01:11:02that
01:11:02he
01:11:02was
01:11:02still
01:11:02broken
01:11:02down
01:11:03emotionally
01:11:03this
01:11:04is
01:11:04dehumanization
01:11:05because
01:11:05one of
01:11:06the main
01:11:06things
01:11:06that
01:11:07makes
01:11:08a
01:11:08human
01:11:08human
01:11:08is
01:11:09them
01:11:09having
01:11:09the
01:11:10right
01:11:10and
01:11:10the
01:11:11ability
01:11:11to
01:11:11choose
01:11:12I
01:11:12feel
01:11:12like
01:11:12freedom
01:11:13is
01:11:14being
01:11:14able
01:11:14to
01:11:14choose
01:11:14life
01:11:15or
01:11:15death
01:11:15and
01:11:16I
01:11:16feel
01:11:16like
01:11:16freedom
01:11:16is
01:11:16being
01:11:17able
01:11:17to
01:11:17have
01:11:17an
01:11:17option
01:11:18and
01:11:18I
01:11:18feel
01:11:18like
01:11:18you
01:11:19cannot
01:11:19define
01:11:19freedom
01:11:20some
01:11:20people
01:11:21define
01:11:21freedom
01:11:21for
01:11:22themselves
01:11:23God
01:11:23hasn't
01:11:24given
01:11:24up
01:11:24on
01:11:24Ellie
01:11:25yet
01:11:25but
01:11:26Ellie
01:11:26is
01:11:26trying
01:11:27to
01:11:27give
01:11:28up
01:11:28on
01:11:28God
01:11:28but
01:11:29God
01:11:29is
01:11:30still
01:11:30giving
01:11:30him
01:11:31chances
01:11:31and
01:11:32still
01:11:32letting
01:11:33him
01:11:33survive
01:11:33it's
01:11:34not
01:11:34God
01:11:35I
01:11:35feel
01:11:35like
01:11:35it's
01:11:36more
01:11:36like
01:11:36fate
01:11:37I
01:11:37feel
01:11:38as
01:11:38if
01:11:38God
01:11:38didn't
01:11:39create
01:11:39the
01:11:39Holocaust
01:11:40because
01:11:40I
01:11:41feel
01:11:41as
01:11:41if
01:11:42he
01:11:42gives
01:11:42us
01:11:42a
01:11:42choice
01:11:42to
01:11:42choose
01:11:43so
01:11:43it
01:11:43wasn't
01:11:43really
01:11:44his
01:11:44fault
01:11:44that
01:11:44the
01:11:45Holocaust
01:11:45happened
01:11:45maybe
01:11:46God
01:11:46is
01:11:46putting
01:11:46him
01:11:47through
01:11:47this
01:11:47to
01:11:47make
01:11:48him
01:11:48understand
01:11:48that
01:11:49that
01:11:50God
01:11:50is
01:11:50not
01:11:51just
01:11:51there
01:11:52to
01:11:52make
01:11:52you
01:11:52happy
01:11:52God
01:11:53is
01:11:53there
01:11:53to
01:11:53just
01:11:53lead
01:11:53you
01:11:54through
01:11:54life
01:11:54in
01:11:54general
01:11:55what
01:11:56was
01:11:56the
01:11:56most
01:11:56impactful
01:11:57part
01:11:57of
01:11:57the
01:11:57book
01:11:57for
01:11:57you
01:11:57the
01:11:58most
01:11:58impactful
01:11:59part
01:11:59was
01:11:59when
01:12:00his
01:12:00father
01:12:00died
01:12:01this
01:12:02is
01:12:02powerful
01:12:02to
01:12:03me
01:12:03because
01:12:03this
01:12:03is
01:12:03like
01:12:04a
01:12:04different
01:12:04situation
01:12:05and
01:12:05I
01:12:06don't
01:12:06know
01:12:06what
01:12:06to
01:12:06expect
01:12:07because
01:12:07I've
01:12:07never
01:12:07experienced
01:12:08it
01:12:08but
01:12:09I
01:12:09feel
01:12:09like
01:12:09if
01:12:10I
01:12:10did
01:12:10and
01:12:11I
01:12:11had
01:12:11to
01:12:11let
01:12:11go
01:12:11of
01:12:12my
01:12:13mom
01:12:14I
01:12:14don't
01:12:14even
01:12:15know
01:12:15what
01:12:15I
01:12:15would
01:12:15do
01:12:16with
01:12:16myself
01:12:17I
01:12:18feel
01:12:18as
01:12:18if
01:12:18when
01:12:19he
01:12:19wrote
01:12:19this
01:12:19book
01:12:19he
01:12:19was
01:12:19trying
01:12:20to
01:12:21let
01:12:22go
01:12:22of
01:12:22his
01:12:22pain
01:12:23so
01:12:23he
01:12:23won't
01:12:23have
01:12:23to
01:12:23feel
01:12:24the
01:12:24pain
01:12:24of
01:12:26having
01:12:27to
01:12:27relive
01:12:27those
01:12:28moments
01:12:28over
01:12:28and over
01:12:35that
01:12:35change
01:12:35in
01:12:36his
01:12:36name
01:12:36throughout
01:12:36the
01:12:37book
01:12:37he's
01:12:37called
01:12:38Eliezer
01:12:38but
01:12:39as
01:12:40an
01:12:40author
01:12:40and
01:12:41when
01:12:41we're
01:12:41talking
01:12:41about
01:12:42him
01:12:42in
01:12:43a
01:12:43present
01:12:43tense
01:12:44before
01:12:44he
01:12:44passed
01:12:45we
01:12:45say
01:12:46Elie
01:12:46that
01:12:47just
01:12:47shows
01:12:47that
01:12:47he's
01:12:48now
01:12:48in
01:12:48a
01:12:48different
01:12:48world
01:12:49so
01:12:49even
01:12:49though
01:12:50Elie
01:12:50is
01:12:51free
01:12:51Eliezer
01:12:51was
01:12:52never
01:12:52freed
01:12:52from
01:12:52his
01:12:53past
01:12:53Elie
01:12:54we
01:12:54sell
01:12:55is
01:12:55free
01:12:55Eliezer
01:12:55is
01:12:56not
01:12:59I
01:12:59love
01:13:00you
01:13:00I
01:13:00love
01:13:00you
01:13:00too
01:13:00I'll
01:13:01I'll
01:13:02see
01:13:02you
01:13:02in
01:13:02eight
01:13:03days
01:13:13why
01:13:14is
01:13:14it
01:13:14that
01:13:14my
01:13:15town
01:13:15still
01:13:15enchants
01:13:16me
01:13:16so
01:13:18is
01:13:18it
01:13:19because
01:13:19in
01:13:19my
01:13:19memory
01:13:20it
01:13:20is
01:13:20entangled
01:13:20with
01:13:21my
01:13:21childhood
01:13:24evil
01:13:25remains
01:13:25hidden
01:13:26and
01:13:26time
01:13:26suspended
01:13:28in
01:13:29my
01:13:29fantasy
01:13:30I
01:13:30still
01:13:31see
01:13:31myself
01:13:31in
01:13:32it
01:13:38in
01:13:39a
01:13:39tiny
01:13:39place
01:13:39like
01:13:40Siget
01:13:40until
01:13:411944
01:13:41people
01:13:42lived
01:13:43together
01:13:43Hungarian
01:13:44gendarmerie
01:13:45was here
01:13:45present
01:13:46all the
01:13:46time
01:13:47they
01:13:48even
01:13:48lived
01:13:48in
01:13:49Jewish
01:13:49homes
01:13:52and
01:13:53suddenly
01:13:54overnight
01:13:54they
01:13:55became
01:13:55the
01:13:56perpetrators
01:14:01I
01:14:01saw
01:14:02them
01:14:02with
01:14:02their
01:14:02bundles
01:14:03on
01:14:03their
01:14:03shoulders
01:14:04the
01:14:05Hungarian
01:14:05gendarmes
01:14:06were
01:14:06driving
01:14:06them
01:14:07mad
01:14:07with
01:14:08fear
01:14:08my
01:14:09sisters
01:14:09and
01:14:10myself
01:14:10we
01:14:10went
01:14:10to
01:14:11the
01:14:11wells
01:14:12and
01:14:12brought
01:14:13them
01:14:13water
01:14:19then
01:14:21three
01:14:22days
01:14:22later
01:14:22I
01:14:23was
01:14:23myself
01:14:24among
01:14:24them
01:14:27still am
01:14:31are
01:14:31most
01:14:31of
01:14:32the
01:14:32people
01:14:32who
01:14:32visit
01:14:33Siget
01:14:33as
01:14:34tourists
01:14:34aware
01:14:35of
01:14:35the
01:14:36Jewish
01:14:36history
01:14:36or
01:14:36do
01:14:36they
01:14:36just
01:14:37come
01:14:37here
01:14:37because
01:14:37most
01:14:38of
01:14:38them
01:14:38are
01:14:38not
01:14:38yeah
01:14:39most
01:14:40of
01:14:40them
01:14:40are
01:14:40not
01:14:40I
01:14:40would
01:14:41say
01:14:41that
01:14:4290%
01:14:43of
01:14:44them
01:14:44are
01:14:44amazed
01:14:45that
01:14:45Siget
01:14:45was
01:14:46actually
01:14:46a
01:14:47Jewish
01:14:47town
01:15:04everything
01:15:05is
01:15:05the
01:15:06same
01:15:06furniture
01:15:09even
01:15:09the
01:15:10wallpaper
01:15:11and
01:15:12it
01:15:12is
01:15:12so
01:15:12much
01:15:13the
01:15:13same
01:15:15that
01:15:16at
01:15:16times
01:15:17I
01:15:18am
01:15:18afraid
01:15:19that
01:15:20perhaps
01:15:21the
01:15:21door
01:15:21might
01:15:21open
01:15:23and
01:15:23the
01:15:23young
01:15:23boy
01:15:24that
01:15:25used
01:15:25to
01:15:26look
01:15:26like
01:15:26me
01:15:27will
01:15:28come
01:15:28out
01:15:29and
01:15:30he
01:15:30will
01:15:30ask
01:15:31me
01:15:31very
01:15:31innocently
01:15:32tell
01:15:33me
01:15:33what
01:15:34are
01:15:34you
01:15:34doing
01:15:34here
01:15:34stranger
01:15:36what
01:15:36are
01:15:37you
01:15:37doing
01:15:37in
01:15:37my
01:15:38dream
01:15:38in
01:15:39my
01:15:39tale
01:15:48we're
01:15:49looking
01:15:49for
01:15:50El
01:15:51Dieza
01:15:51right
01:15:52because
01:15:53your
01:15:53grandfather
01:15:54was
01:15:55named
01:15:56after
01:15:57his
01:15:57grandfather
01:16:09where
01:16:10this
01:16:10one
01:16:10is
01:16:11you
01:16:11that's
01:16:11a
01:16:13benyamin
01:16:14it's
01:16:14yehuda
01:16:14benyamin
01:16:15you see
01:16:16this is
01:16:16the wrong
01:16:16one
01:16:16yeah
01:16:17it's
01:16:17not
01:16:17this
01:16:17one
01:16:24possibly
01:16:25i think
01:16:26that's
01:16:26a
01:16:26mem
01:16:27oh
01:16:28wait
01:16:29oh
01:16:30that is
01:16:30a
01:16:30eliezer
01:16:31this is
01:16:32eliezer
01:16:33yes
01:16:33ben
01:16:34it should be
01:16:35ben
01:16:35shimcha
01:16:36shalom
01:16:37halevi
01:16:38this is
01:16:40yeah
01:16:40this is
01:16:41it
01:16:41we found
01:16:41it
01:16:41this is
01:16:42my
01:16:42great
01:16:43great
01:16:43grandfather
01:16:44eliezer
01:16:45lazar
01:16:45vizel
01:16:46halevi
01:17:02wow
01:17:15rov
01:17:16Eliezer Wiesel. I've never seen it spelled like that, but that's how it's pronounced.
01:17:40I visited all the places which had once filled my landscape.
01:17:45I searched for the people out of my path, but I did not find them.
01:17:51The only place where I felt at home was the Jewish cemetery.
01:17:57This was the only place in Siget that reminded me of Siget.
01:18:02I wandered from one grave to another. I had bought some candles. I lit them,
01:18:09placing one wherever I found a familiar name.
01:18:14The wind blew them out.
01:18:17And suddenly, tears strangled me.
01:18:22A terrible certainty overcame me.
01:18:26For the town that had once been mine, never was.
01:18:41My hometown is only famous for the concentration camp Sachsenhausen.
01:18:48Unfortunately, there were no Jews left.
01:18:55They came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a communist.
01:19:03Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew.
01:19:10Then they came for the trade unionist, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a trade unionist.
01:19:18Then they came for me, and by that time, no one was left to speak up.
01:19:28I learned that Elie Wiesel had a type of blood cancer.
01:19:36He was sent to us to participate in a clinical trial with a drug we have never used before.
01:19:46I had a phone call with his son, Alicia, and talking to him for the first time
01:19:54It wasn't that easy, giving the life of his father into hands of a German doctor.
01:20:03A drug that has never been tested in New York.
01:20:09He said, if there is a chance, and if we have an option, even if it is an experimental treatment,
01:20:17maybe we give it a chance, but the final decision has to be made by my father.
01:20:23Elie Wiesel responded very nicely.
01:20:27But after a year, the treatment stopped working.
01:20:31Elijah said, if there is nothing else we can do, then I want to take him home.
01:20:35I remember in the moments after my father passed, there was this rush,
01:20:43like my blood rushing in my head. I had to sit down, because
01:20:51there was this voice in my head saying that my father hadn't gone anywhere,
01:20:57that he was with me and always would be.
01:21:04I believe that life does not end with death.
01:21:12I feel the presence of my father all the time.
01:21:20Same as, of course, my mother and my little sister, I feel their presence.
01:21:27Which means that death have their own presence.
01:21:31It's up for me to accept it, and I do.
01:21:35It doesn't mean I don't believe, I don't know.
01:21:38But between belief and knowledge, there is an abyss.
01:21:42But what would one be without the other?
01:21:46What does it mean?
01:21:53I believe, I believe, and I don't believe in it.
01:22:07I assume that the truth is but not if we know that,
01:22:09I will not believe in it, and I will not believe in it.
01:22:16.
01:23:14Oh
01:23:16Oh
01:23:47Oh
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