We've learnt nothing from unending global tragedies

Does the world learn anything? Eliezer “Ellie” Wiesel, who died last Saturday, aged 87 liked asking this question. Ellie was born a Hungarian Jew. He later became an American citizen. As a teenager, he was tortured at the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp in Adolph Hitler’s Germany. He lost both parents and many other close relatives in the Holocaust. Having survived the camps, he would go on to devote the rest of his life to creation of awareness about the Holocaust. A distinguished academic and Nobel laureate, Wiesel has been very highly respected in Western scholarly and political circles as a crusader against intolerance and injustice. Critics, however, say he has not approached the Palestinian question with the same gusto as he has addressed the Holocaust. The jury is still out there, however.

Wiesel wrote many books. He taught many students and travelled far and wide giving lectures on conflict, war and peace. His abiding memories and reflections on the Holocaust are captured in the volume titled Night. First published in French, Night has been translated into 30 languages. It sold in its millions. Dawn and Day are sequels to Night. There are two overriding thoughts in Wiesel’s philosophy. First is that the world has the propensity to look on in silence as the captains of wickedness and evil do their worst. If the world did not embrace the conspiracy of silence in the face of intolerance and injustice, it would be a safer place. But those who should speak out will usually remain silent if, in their judgment, the injustice does not touch them.