"Night" - a MUST read!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Recently, I've been getting into the habit of reading again. I'm currently reading two books simultaneously. One I will carry in my bag, so I can read while I'm on-the-move. Another is my "night snack" before I retires for the night. I wouldn't classify myself as a bookworm, simply cos I dun really read as often as I should - unless u count newspapers as "books". That being said, I do find reading a pleasant activity, especially when all I want was to be alone.
Among all the "count-able" (as compared to countless) books I have read, one stood out the most. I used to have a blog entry on that book, but I have since deleted that entry due to royal decree no 2 (Pls check archive if you're wondering what's decree no 2!). I do recommend everyone to read that book which illustrates the sense of insanity and lack of humanity that we humans could become in times of darkness.
I was introduced to this book by Oprah Winfrey. Hmm... okie... to be more accurate, I knew of this book through the Oprah Show - not that I'm a personal fren of Oprah, though I will definitely love to have her as a personal fren! haha... The author appeared as a guest on her show, and they discussed about this book.
The book -
"Night" by Professor Elie Wiesel - is a true account about the horrors of the Holocaust during the WWII. It's the life story of a young Jewish boy who was sent to the German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald, along with his family whom he subsequently lost. A simple, but powerful, book which will touch the core of your humanity. One quote from the book which enlightened me is
"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented". So often, we think staying neutral in times of conflicts is the right thing to do. Yet, by our own inaction, we are actually encouraging the oppressor.
Well, because of this book, I have listed a visit to the Auschwitz camps in Poland as one of the things I must do in my lifetime. 1.1 million people, which is like a quarter of Singapore's population , perished at the camps. I've been to the Yad Vashem (Hebrew: "Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority") in Israel before. The Yad Vashem is the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. There, I saw the faces of the victims - some as young as infants. It was there that the Holocaust was, to me, no longer a story about WWII, but a true occurrence which could always happen again.
Of course, besides the Jews, there were also other victims during the Holocaust, such as the Slavs, ethnic poles, disabled, gay men, Freemasons and Roma. Since ancient civilisation, man has always use some form of classification to distinct one other. Even today, we still use classifications in many things that we do, like "Upper Income", "Lower Income", "Chinese", "Eurasian", "Cosmopolitans", and "Heartlanders". Yet, we forget, at the end of the day, we're all humans - the same species!
"I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions?--fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die?"
- Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Labels: humanity, inspiration
by order of HRH .
@10:43 AM
