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    chritter is a nocturnal feminist mancatfishLauren Evans
    7/02/16 5:00pm

    “I never intended to to be a philosopher, or a theologian,” he wrote. “The only role I sought was that of witness.”

    And you succeeded beyond your wildest dreams, I think, Mr. Wiesel. Night should be required reading in schools everywhere. Rest now, your labors are ended.

    And thank you.

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      iseedeaddalekschritter is a nocturnal feminist mancatfish
      7/02/16 5:26pm

      It was required in my school in seventh or eighth grade (I can’t remember which). I should go back to it because while I remember the feeling of reading it but I’ve since lost the details.

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      chritter is a nocturnal feminist mancatfishiseedeaddaleks
      7/02/16 5:30pm

      It was on the “suggested summer reading” list my freshman year of high school. It was a good suggestion.

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    TadKosciuszkoLauren Evans
    7/02/16 7:39pm

    He also actively suppressed efforts to recognize other groups victimized by the Holocaust, and actively, enthusiastically advocated for Israeli settlements to ethnically cleanse Palestinians.

    The suffering inflicted upon him as a young man was inexcusable. But the suffering he perpetuated as an adult is inexcusable too.

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      foldableTadKosciuszko
      7/02/16 8:21pm

      It really is depressing that he wasn’t able to see the contradictions in his beliefs. I hate that I can’t appreciate his brilliance without being reminded of that ugliness.

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      meltcaTadKosciuszko
      7/02/16 9:16pm

      Amen! I really liked this article:

      The Jewish people deserve their history, safety and identity in this land as much as Christian, Muslim and other Palestinians, especially in the shadows of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. But they do not deserve it by uprooting and oppressing another people to achieve their goals, and by claiming superiority of rights by virtue of their race or faith.

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    ShadyfreudeLauren Evans
    7/02/16 5:35pm

    So relevant today. RIP.

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      StarvingArtistShadyfreude
      7/02/16 5:45pm

      Especially relevant because he supported oppressors like Israel and US interventionism in the Middle East. Wiesel was an asshole

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      Supernova: Bullshit JediShadyfreude
      7/02/16 7:17pm

      An incredibly powerful quote, may he never be forgotten.

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    randymanLauren Evans
    7/02/16 5:10pm

    I will never forget this moment, when Mr. Wiesel implored the President of the United States to do the right thing:

    “President Reagan listened intently today as Elie Wiesel, chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, implored him to cancel a visit to a German cemetery where Nazi war dead are buried.

    “That place, Mr. President, is not your place,” Mr. Wiesel told Mr. Reagan at White House ceremonies honoring the 56-year-old writer. “Your place is with the victims of the SS.”

    The moment, in the silence of the packed Roosevelt Room, came on a day when the White House announced that Mr. Reagan would visit the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp site. His visit to the camp, where Anne Frank died, will be made on the same day that he attends ceremonies at the Bitburg military cemetery, which includes the graves of 47 SS soldiers, members of the Nazi elite guard.

    Despite Mr. Wiesel’s plea, the White House said Mr. Reagan would not change his plans to lay a wreath at Bitburg, accompanied by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who requested the visit.” – from the New York Times

    What a mensch; I’m so glad he survived, even if he did carry the horrors of his experience with him for the rest of his life. The world is a better place for his presence.

    I feel the same way about Kurt Vonnegut, who endured the fires of Dresden and brought us Slaughterhouse Five. We’re losing the eyewitnesses; we must pay attention to their records, and never forget.


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      Pinupsrandyman
      7/02/16 7:09pm

      Unfortunately, some of us have already forgotten.

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      randymanPinups
      7/02/16 7:12pm

      Like, this. “Fascist Trump… Squanders History.”

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    JujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes hereLauren Evans
    7/02/16 9:44pm

    Primo Levi is also a great documentarian, particularly in his book “The Drowned and the Saved”

    MotherJujuyMonkey is also a Holocaust survivor as a young girl. Never talks about it and the resulting damage has fucked Jujy up big time.ive pieced together some stuff, but she refuses to share details. I know she had a machine gun at her head multiple times while my grandmother begged for their lives.

    Ok, I'm crying now.

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      foxGreyjoy and the salty cynicJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      7/02/16 11:59pm

      Thank you for the suggestion. Night was one of the most serious, terrifying, saddening, and human books i’ve ever read. I have always kept the copy my library gave out, which is how I cam across it as a kid. Though often the phrase has been used without conviction- it really did open my eyes to the world.

      My heart hurts for your mother and the countless others.

      Sending love.

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      DonnaLJujyMonkey: Clever tagline goes here
      7/03/16 12:13am

      My mother was a survivor as well, who lost most of her family, and it’s probably the central fact of my existence, as it was of hers.

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    cheesypoofLauren Evans
    7/02/16 5:09pm

    “In retrospect I must confess that I do not know, or no longer know, what I wanted to achieve with my words. I only know that without this testimony, my life as a writer- or my life, period- would not have become what it is: that of a witness who believes he has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human memory.”

    Goddamn that book shaped my whole adolescence. RIP, Mr. Wiesel.

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      sossajescheesypoof
      7/02/16 9:44pm

      This might seem odd, but I think Mel Brooks’ work supports this point of view.

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    Vox PopulistLauren Evans
    7/02/16 6:24pm

    Eli Wiesel lived long and prospered, dedicating his life’s work to sharing the truth about what he had seen. And thus he won the ultimate victory over the murderers of his family, as well as over the deniers who claimed that the millions who were murdered at the camps never even existed.

    I fear for a time when the last survivor dies, when the last witness to the horror perishes and the deniers will once again feel emboldened to spread their lies.

    We are fortunate that, as he goes to a place where there is no war or sorrow, his account, his words and his poetry will live on. They will provide future generations with wisdom, warning and a call to never let another Holocaust happen again.

    My nation, Germany, owes a great debt to Eli Wiesel and indeed to every survivor who is willing to share their experiences with us. That we are at peace with all of our neighbors in a unified Europe of cooperation and mutual understanding instead of strife and warfare is a historic accomplishment. One that only could have happened because men like Eli Wiesel forced a post-war nation that was ready to just move on, instead to take a long, hard look at what they had done - and try to make amends, as much as that was possible. This was the first step in healing our battered continent, for which we descendants of the murderers will be forever grateful.

    May he rest in peace.

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      chritter is a nocturnal feminist mancatfishVox Populist
      7/02/16 6:25pm

      Beautifully said.

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      chemiclordVox Populist
      7/02/16 9:29pm

      For what it’s worth, there has been so much tireless effort into preserving the memory of the Holocaust that I honestly don’t see the deniers ever getting much of a foothold.

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    Bat21Lauren Evans
    7/02/16 6:06pm

    Director Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) just died, too. http://variety.com/2016/film/peop...

    The Grim Reaper is working overtime this year.

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      chritter is a nocturnal feminist mancatfishBat21
      7/02/16 6:08pm

      Damnit. :(

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      randilynisFINDILYNBat21
      7/02/16 6:17pm

      That was such a great movie.

      The list of people to meet in heaven is getting longer than the ones I hope to meet here.

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    JustSome1Lauren Evans
    7/02/16 5:16pm

    Elie Wiesel is a personal hero of mine.

    Reading Night when I was in high school was the spark that started the fire for me to learn as much as I could about the Holocaust, other genocides, hate groups and hate in general through history so that someday we may never have them.

    Thank you Mr. Wiesel, I hope you find some rest now.

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      cardiganJustSome1
      7/02/16 5:51pm

      While he is rightfully remembered for his powerful writing about what he witnessed during the Holocaust, I think it’s important to also remember that he had a profound blind spot when it came to recognizing the suffering and oppression of Palestinians.

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      StarvingArtistcardigan
      7/02/16 5:57pm

      And the Roma and gay people in the Holocaust, but you will just get ignored or dismissed for bringing this up.

      Wiesel also supported the Iraq war and a pending war with Iran; calling him an agent of peace is disingenuous, at best

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    mwittierLauren Evans
    7/02/16 5:02pm

    Our great loss, and may he find some peace at last.

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      what does the fonz saymwittier
      7/02/16 5:07pm

      I saw him speak a couple of times in the last ten years, and you’re so right—it is a great loss. He was a wonderful, beautiful, eloquent person.

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      we just keep drivingwhat does the fonz say
      7/02/16 9:23pm

      I had the honor of taking a class with him when I was in college. He carried himself with such quiet grace that those few weeks have stayed with me a long time. It could have just been a little throw-away course (it was just three weeks in Florida for him), but he took it, and all of us, so seriously. We disagreed on a number of important issues but he was always open to listening. He will most surely be missed.

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