Elie Wiesel's Perils Of Indifference

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“Perils of Indifference” On April 12, 1999, Elie Wiesel went to The Seventh Millennium Evening at the White House to give his speech about indifference. Hillary Clinton wanted Wiesel to give this speech at one of these events for a while, and it was the perfect time to give it then because Hillary started to do work for children in Russia. Elie Wiesel’s speech deals with the struggles he had as a child during the Holocaust. At the young age of fifteen, Wiesel was taken from his home in Hungary and transported to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. Auschwitz had to be evacuated because the Russian army was coming, so Wiesel was sent to Buchenwald in Germany. The American army came and liberated the camp, which is why he feels so strongly about indifference. Wiesel claims that indifference is worse than the enemy because you are supporting them. If one does not do anything to help the victim, the enemy will keep hurting them. At least the enemy puts effort into what they are doing. Indifferent people just watch the evil happen. By using strong diction, Wiesel shows the …show more content…

He uses his unfortunate past in order for the audience to take pity on him. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Elie explains that the feeling of abandonment has shaped him into the man he is today. Wiesel uses other tragedies to show that the Holocaust is not the only example of a time indifference has failed to create peace. Indifference supports the enemy and not the victim because the enemy will continue to be evil until there is someone to stop them. Elie Wiesel was able to survive because the United States came and rescued him from Buchenwald. His family was not as lucky. If someone came earlier to liberate the camp, his family might be alive. Indifference is the unnecessary evil in the world and can only be stopped when people decide to take a stand and believe in

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