Lessons From History
- In Auschwitz, the "Muselmanner" were prisoners who were on the verge of death, with hardly any chance of survival. They didn't feel pain because they "were dead and did not know it" (41).
- As if feeling abandoned by humanity wasn't horrible enough, the prisoners felt abandoned and ignored by God—which was worse than being punished by him.
- Elie Wiesel believes no one lives outside of God, just far away from him. Because God is everywhere—even in places like Auschwitz.
- Humans become inhuman the second they stop caring about how other people are suffering. In many ways, indifference is worse than anger and hatred because at least when people are angry, they do something to fix the problem. The same is true with hatred because people will stand up and fight against it.
- When people are indifferent, they don't do anything. They don't care, and that's why being indifferent always benefits the bad guys. The victims feel even worse when they realize no one outside cares about them or what they're going through.
- That's how Wiesel and other prisoners felt while in the concentration camps.
- If we ignore those who are suffering, from political prisoners to hungry children, we're telling them their existence is meaningless, and not worth remembering.
- In the process, we stop being human, which is why indifference is both a sin and a punishment.