Elie Wiesel's "Hope, Despair and Memory" (1986)

Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime struggle against indifference, which he sees as synonymous to the struggle for peace. As an author, philosopher, and humanist, Wiesel focuses on drawing attention to the crimes committed by the Nazis during World War II, in order to prevent such a holocaust from happening again. In accepting the prize on December 11, 1986, Wiesel gave a lecture titled "Hope, Despair and Memory" in which he shows, through a combination of biblical stories, history, and his own story, how those three perspectives must be balanced to remind each person that we have the power and duty to save ourselves, our neighbors, and humanity.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. beset
    assail or attack on all sides
    The Jewish people, all humanity were suffering too much, beset by too many evils.
  2. fervent
    characterized by intense emotion
    And together the two exiled men began to recite, at first in whispers, then more loudly: "Aleph, beth, gimel, daleth..." And over again, each time more vigorously, more fervently; until, ultimately, the Besht regained his powers, having regained his memory.
  3. opaque
    not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy
    Without memory, our existence would be barren and opaque, like a prison cell into which no light penetrates; like a tomb which rejects the living.
  4. distorted
    so badly formed or out of shape as to be ugly
    Life in this accursed universe was so distorted, so unnatural that a new species had evolved. Waking among the dead, one wondered if one was still alive.
  5. despair
    a state in which all hope is lost or absent
    And yet real despair only seized us later. Afterwards. As we emerged from the nightmare and began to search for meaning.
  6. passivity
    the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative
    How could we ever understand the passivity of the onlookers and--yes--the silence of the Allies?
  7. aberration
    a state or condition markedly different from the norm
    Was Auschwitz a consequence or an aberration of "civilization"?
  8. incumbent
    necessary as a duty or responsibility; morally binding
    It is incumbent upon us to remember the good we have received, and the evil we have suffered.
  9. paucity
    an insufficient quantity or number
    Our abhorrence of war is reflected in the paucity of our literature of warfare.
  10. iniquity
    morally objectionable behavior
    After all, God created the Torah to do away with iniquity, to do away with war.
  11. debase
    corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
    War dehumanizes, war diminishes, war debases all those who wage it.
  12. cease
    put an end to a state or an activity
    The Talmud tells us that without the ability to forget, man would soon cease to learn. Without the ability to forget, man would live in a permanent, paralyzing fear of death.
  13. reconcile
    make compatible with
    How are we to reconcile our supreme duty towards memory with the need to forget that is essential to life?
  14. paradox
    a statement that contradicts itself
    No generation has had to confront this paradox with such urgency.
  15. compel
    necessitate or exact
    Each one of us felt compelled to record every story, every encounter. Each one of us felt compelled to bear witness.
  16. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
    After the war we reassured ourselves that it would be enough to relate a single night in Treblinka, to tell of the cruelty, the senselessness of murder, and the outrage born of indifference: it would be enough to find the right word and the propitious moment to say it, to shake humanity out of its indifference and keep the torturer from torturing ever again.
  17. anemic
    lacking vigor or energy
    We tried. It was not easy. At first, because of the language; language failed us. We would have to invent a new vocabulary, for our own words were inadequate, anemic.
  18. virtually
    slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
    If someone had told us in 1945 that in our lifetime religious wars would rage on virtually every continent, that thousands of children would once again be dying of starvation, we would not have believed it.
  19. fanaticism
    excessive intolerance of opposing views
    Or that racism and fanaticism would flourish once again, we would not have believed it.
  20. unabated
    continuing at full strength or intensity
    How to explain any of it: the outrage of Apartheid which continues unabated.
  21. defy
    elude, especially in a baffling way
    Without comparing Apartheid to Nazism and to its "final solution"--for that defies all comparison--one cannot help but assign the two systems, in their supposed legality, to the same camp.
  22. eradicate
    destroy completely, as if down to the roots
    Terrorism must be outlawed by all civilized nations--not explained or rationalized, but fought and eradicated.
  23. repudiate
    refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
    Let us remember Job who, having lost everything--his children, his friends, his possessions, and even his argument with God--still found the strength to begin again, to rebuild his life. Job was determined not to repudiate the creation, however imperfect, that God had entrusted to him.
  24. indict
    accuse formally of a crime
    We may be powerless to open all the jails and free all the prisoners, but by declaring our solidarity with one prisoner, we indict all jailers.
  25. denounce
    accuse or condemn openly as disgraceful
    None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness.
Created on Tue Mar 25 14:01:21 EDT 2014 (updated Wed Mar 26 16:02:14 EDT 2014)

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