U.S. History Paper

Elie Weisel begins by telling us some of his experience in the Nazi Camp. He thanks the Americans who saved him, but is still confused as to why different countries didn’t respond and send help immediately after they knew about what was going on. He goes on to talk about the “perils of indifference.” He tells us that not acting on something and simply doing nothing can cause great sorrow and pain. He uses his experience in the concentration camps as an example, and explains that he and everybody else there felt abandoned and forgotten, and they felt that they were viewed with indifference. President Roosevelt, as described by Weisel “was a good man, with a heart.” But even so, President Roosevelt did not help the Jews in their state of need, and acted indifferently to the situation. Weisel explains to us that many people choose to be indifferent because it is easier. But that there were some people, the “Righteous Gentiles” that did help them in their time of need, and he thanks them, but again questions why there were so few.

There are many times when it would be so easy to ignore a problem and move on with your life. But when you have learned about indifference, and look back on the corruption that it caused in History, you will know that ignoring the situation is the worst thing you could do. The best possible way to respond is to take action, and find a solution to your problem. It was very important for Weisel to bring this to the attention of the President at that time because The Yugoslovs were doing something similar to what the Nazis had done and were trying to perform “ethnic cleansing” in Kosovo. But the United States had learned from the past, took action, and successfully ended the conflict in Kosovo. Americans in general, also needed to hear this speech at that time because while the U.S. economy was doing very well, there were many other countries that were doing terribly. This speech that he gave served as a sort of wake-up call, reminding everybody to think outside of themselves and help those in need.