We Are Made By History

The term genocide brings awful things to mind. For most, it probably directs their attention towards the Holocaust; this was definitely a gruesome and obvious example of genocide, but there are many others with great similarities that are not very well known. One of these is the decimation of the Native American population by the European settlers and the atrocious things that were done to them such as the trail of tears following the Indian Removal Act of 1830 during the settling of North America. The Holocaust might be the most well known but there have been many other incidents in history just as abhorrent. The Holocaust and Native American Genocide are different in weapons used and the motives for killing but similar in intent,

Americas history is what defines us and who we are as a country. We were built on hard work, sacrifice, wanting to be free and independent to be who we want to. Now a-days, we seem to have fallen away from this. Everything is given to us so easily on our computer and through technology that we have no need to work hard anymore. This is the downfall in humanity because as we keep going, life will continue to get easier and we won’t want to do anything. History is our hope so that we can learn from what we did in our past and how things were done then.For starters, we can see what mistakes we did and make sure we don’t do them again. If we continue to the same thing over and over again, there’s no way for our society to improve from this. Our

“Keep Memory Alive” is an award acceptance speech delivered by Elie Wiesel. The speaker recalled the events and personal experiences during the unfortunate and penetrating event known as the Holocaust. Wiesel gave an example of a little young boy asking his father: “Who would allow such crimes to be committed? How could the world remain silent?” (Wiesel, 544). That young boy turns out to be Wiesel. Wiesel proceeds to emphasize his belief that everyone should remember the significant events in history and learn to speak up when necessary. Therefore, it is important to commemorate history in order to prevent society from becoming ignorant and often times, repeating identical mistakes as our ancestors did.

James Baldwin once said: “History is not the past. History is the present. We carry our history with us. To think otherwise is criminal”. This quote stated by James Baldwin perfectly summarizes the many problems that people are acquainted within society. Throughout history, people are bunched up into groups where they are labeled certain things which carries on into today’s world. People are not viewed as individuals with the certain choice making abilities but rather subjected to being grouped by irrelevant factors into certain groups. By doing this, other people are able to take advantage of these people that are classified into groups by exploiting them for their own benefit. This is the unfortunate system which history has allowed to

Movies such as Schindler’s List which deal with the concepts of racism are an extremely important part of the film genres. Although many people know the racism issue occurs all over the world, few know the extremities it has and still goes on to. Learning about past racist occurrences such as the Holocaust is an important learning experience for all viewers of film because learning about something that happened in the past can better prevent that from happening in the future. Something as significant as the Holocaust should never be forgotten and the will to stop the world’s racism should never be lost. Elie Weisel, the survivor from the Holocaust stated about his struggle to end violence and hatred, “Indifference is never an option. It is not the beginning of a process; it is the end of a

The word of Wiesel was taken for granted to the highest degree possible, in which we wish to leave the past behind us and start a new. Nevertheless, we are humans that will always have the need to show no signs of remorse towards genocide that may not involve are well being due to showing differences being painless then taking action.

Writer, Elie Wiesel in his metaphorical speech “The perils of Indifference” argues that the future will never know the agony of the Holocaust and they will never understand the tragedy of the horrific terror in Germany. Wiesel wants people to not let this happen but at the time many modern genocides that are occurring and people shouldn’t be focused on just the Holocaust, they should focus on making this world a better place; moreover, Wiesel expresses his thoughts about all the genocides that has happen throughout the years. He develops his message through in an horrifying event that took place 54 years ago the day “ The perils of Indifference” was published. Wiesel illustrates the indifferences of good vs evil. He develops this message

Unfortunately, although Elie Wiesel and much of the world hoped nothing like the Holocaust would ever happen again, there have been other cases of genocide later after the Holocaust. For example, in the year 1991, the “The Bosnian War and Srebrenica Genocide” took place (“The Bosnian War”). In 1991, “Yugoslavia began to break up along ethnic lines,” causing a surge of ethnic groups trying to seize the power in government (“The Bosnian War”). When the republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared their independence in 1992 the region quickly became the center of the fighting. In the article “The Bosnian War and Srebrenica Genocide” the “Serbs” were a group who rapidly rose to power by taking up “90 percent” of the military, and by also oppressing any other ethnic group that to them “posed a threat to their rights” In addition the article “The Bosnian War and Srebrenica Genocide” it states that the height of the killing took place in July 1995. When 8,000 Bosniaks were killed in what became known as the Srebrenica genocide, the largest massacre in Europe.” Despite, all the mass killings, most of the world

Edmund Burke once said “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.” Unfortunately, it seems that many people who have impacted the world have had a bad history teacher, as history continues to repeat itself to this day. One of the most prime examples of this is seen in the Middle East; where the Palestinian people are fighting against the Israelis over territory in which they both believe belongs to them. It has been a dispute which has resulted in loss of homes, loss of life and loss of money. However, this is nothing new. Eugene O’Neill’s statement, “There is no present and no future, only the past happening over and over again, now” applies strongly to the situation of the past 70 years in the

Although the world continues to face tragedy, little compares to that of the horrors millions of innocent Jews like Elie Wiesel faced, as they were deported from their homes, separated from their families and pushed around into different concentration camps where they were brutally tortured, killed, and discarded of by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany Army beginning in 1941. It wasn’t until April of 1945 that Elie along with the limited number of other survivors were finally liberated. This mid 20th century atrocity has come to be known as the Holocaust, a tragic part of history that will never be forgotten. It was because of that experience, that Elie Wiesel extensively depicted the events he faced through written and verbal accounts including the speech he gave entitled “The Perils of Indifference” on April 12, 1999. The speech was given at the 7th Millennium Evening at the White House, with an intent to create a kairotic moment with the public including the audiences it was broadcasted to, as an opportunity to explain a darker side of history, while also hopefully enlightening them for the future.

“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.”

In order to relate Wiesel’s speech to an event other than the holocaust; one must look at other, more recent, genocides.

“Forgetting is something time alone takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition, and only the sufferer is qualified to make the decision” (“Quotes”). Simon Wiesenthal took a stand in history by bringing to justice over 1,000 Nazi criminals after WWII (“About”). Although a silent protagonist, he helped the world realize how the Holocaust impacted the millions of Jews in concentration camps. In the short-term, his efforts brought hundreds of war criminals to trial and served justice to those involved in the violence of the Holocaust. While in the long-term, his efforts brought global awareness for the victims of the Holocaust.

In the end, while many people state that humans must learn from history, it seems that the statement has fallen on deaf ears, for the US has always seemed to have one group of people violently trying to put themselves over another group. While “Redemption” has many historical events and facts in between its covers, the historical message