How Does Elie Wiesel Keep Memory Alive

Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel gave a speech called, “Keep Memory Alive.” This speech shares the message: “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormented.” Which basically means that staying neutral, or silent helps the “bad guy” or “bully.” And if we keep silent we are encouraging the silence of the victims. Elie Wiesel is a Romanian-born Jewish writer, professor, and political activist. He spoke this speech in Oslo on December 10, 1986. Elie speaks about how someone should not stay silent in any wrong doing. He speaks not just for himself but for the survivors and the children of the survivors. He himself is a holocaust survivor who doesn’t want people to forget what him, his family, his friends, and even complete strangers had to go through, therefore, he created the speech “Keep Memory Alive.” The writer illustrates his theme of this speech by giving a memorable tone using a flashback with a young boy and his father going through the tragedy of the holocaust.

At the beginning of his speech, Elie Wiesel says, “No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions.” Elie used this to demonstrate the horrors people faced during the holocaust and to emphasize his point of not staying silent.

Nations keep tragedies alive so that we remember them as a part of history to never forget. There’s truth behind the remark “History repeats itself.” If history ever does repeats itself we should have the knowledge to conquer through the hardships and know how to approach the situation in a better and more productive matter because we will not have forgotten, because we kept the memory

alive.
For example, one of the most memorable phrases I have when it comes to remembering a time in history is, “Remember the Alamo.” Whether this phrase stuck with me because it occurred so close to where I am living now, or if it was just emphasized more than other events in my elementary years, I still remember the phrase and the story that goes along with it. “Remember the Alamo” became one of the most famous statements from the Mexican-American War when it was spoken at the Battle of San Jacinto after the victory. The Alamo was a fort built to protect the Texain defenders but was seized and everyone was killed under Santa Anna’s orders. This is a text to world connection with the holocaust and Elie Wiesel’s speech. Many Jewish people were killed under Hitler’s rule but we still remember the holocaust, as we do the battle at the Alamo.
“That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.” Elie makes this statement to back up his remark of how silence encourages the tormented and neutrality helps the oppressor. If we remain silent than doesn’t that mean we are just as guilty as the bully. When you see someone do something wrong aren’t you supposed to tell someone? It’s the same thing here. Elie wants us to speak up, there is no reason for us to forget or stay quiet about these tragedies because they are an important factor into not making the same mistakes twice. We should let our voices be heard.
In conclusion, I don’t want to encourage or help the “bad guy.” I’m always reading and watching documentaries about the Holocaust and from people who went through the Holocaust. I agree with Elie Wiesel that we need to keep this memory alive. Remember how a little boy would look up to his father and ask him how could this be happening in the 20th century when he entered a “kingdom of darkness.” Remember to never be silent and to keep the memory alive.