Elie Wiesel.The perils of indifference Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke, Excellencies, friends Fif ty-four years ago to the day, a young Jew ish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe 's beloved We imar, in a place of eternal inf amy called Buchenwald. He was f inally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again Liber ated a day earlier by American sold iers, he remembers their rage at what they saw. And even if he lives to be a very old man, he will always be gratef ul to them for that rage, and also for their compassion. Though he did not understand their langua ge, their eyes told him what he needed to know-- that they too, would remember, and bear witness And now, I stand before you, Mr. President--Commander-in-Chief of the army that freed me, and tens of thousands of others --and i am filled with a profound and abiding gratitude to the American people. gratitude is a word that I cherish Gratitude is what def ines the human ity of the human being. And i am gratef ul to you, Hillary or Mrs Clinton, for what you said, and for what you are doing for children in the world for the homeless, for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society. And i thank all of you for being here We are on the threshold of a new century a new millennium. what will the le gacy of this van ish ing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium? Surely it will be judged and judged severely, in both moral and meta phys ical terms. These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity two world wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations(Gandhi, the Kennedys Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin), bloodbaths in Cambodia and Nigeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethio pia sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhuma nity in the gulag and the tragedy of Hiroshima. And on a dif ferent level, of course, Auschwitz and treblinka so much violence: so much indifference What is indif ference? Etymolog ica lly, the word means"no difference. A strange and unnatural state in w hich the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punis hment crue lty and com passion, good and evil. what are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity live normally enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing Of course, indifference can be tempting - more than that seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkwardElie Wiesel: "The Perils of Indifference" Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke, Excellencies, f riends: Fif ty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy f rom a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far f rom Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally f ree, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again. Liberated a day earlier by American soldiers, he remembers their rage at what they saw. And even if he lives to be a very old man, he will always be grateful to them for that rage, and also for their compassion. Though he did not understand their language, their eyes told him what he needed to know -- that they, too, would remember, and bear witness. And now, I stand before you, Mr. President -- Commander-in-Chief of the army that f reed me, and tens of thousands of others -- and I am filled with a profound and abiding gratitude to the American people. Gratitude is a word that I cherish. Gratitude is what defines the humanity of the human being. And I am grateful to you, Hillary, or Mrs. Clinton, for what you said, and for what you are doing for children in the world, for the homeless, for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society. And I thank all of you for being here. We are on the threshold of a new century, a new millennium. What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium? Surely it will be judged, and judged severely, in both moral and metaphysical terms. These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations (Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin), bloodbaths in Cambodia and Nigeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhumanity in the gulag and the tragedy of Hiroshima. And, on a dif ferent level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence; so much indif ference. What is indif ference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indif ference conceivable? Can one possibly view indif ference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals? Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away f rom victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, af ter all, awkward