Speeches and pictures we discussed

Elie Wiesel Buchenwald June 2009

Mr. President, Chancellor Merkel, Bertrand, ladies and gentlemen. As I came here today it was actually a way of coming and visit my father's grave -- but he had no grave. His grave is somewhere in the sky. This has become in those years the largest cemetery of the Jewish people.

The day he died was one of the darkest in my life. He became sick, weak, and I was there. I was there when he suffered. I was there when he asked for help, for water. I was there to receive his last words. But I was not there when he called for me, although we were in the same block; he on the upper bed and I on the lower bed. He called my name, and I was too afraid to move. All of us were. And then he died. I was there, but I was not there.

And I thought one day I will come back and speak to him, and tell him of the world that has become mine. I speak to him of times in which memory has become a sacred duty of all people of good will -- in America, where I live, or in Europe or in Germany, where you, Chancellor Merkel, are a leader with great courage and moral aspirations.

What can I tell him that the world has learned? I am not so sure. Mr. President, we have such high hopes for you because you, with your moral vision of history, will be able and compelled to change this world into a better place, where people will stop waging war -- every war is absurd and meaningless; where people will stop hating one another; where people will hate the otherness of the other rather than respect it.

But the world hasn't learned. When I was liberated in 1945, April 11, by the American army, somehow many of us were convinced that at least one lesson will have been learned -- that never again will there be war; that hatred is not an option, that racism is stupid; and the will to conquer other people's minds or territories or aspirations, that will is meaningless.

I was so hopeful. Paradoxically, I was so hopeful then. Many of us were, although we had the right to give up on humanity, to give up on culture, to give up on education, to give up on the possibility of living one's life with dignity in a world that has no place for dignity.


We rejected that possibility and we said, no, we must continue believing in a future, because the world has learned. But again, the world hasn't. Had the world learned, there would have been no Cambodia and no Rwanda and no Darfur and no Bosnia.

Will the world ever learn? I think that is why Buchenwald is so important -- as important, of course, but differently as Auschwitz. It's important because here the large -- the big camp was a kind of international community. People came there from all horizons -- political, economic, culture. The first globalization essay, experiment, were made in Buchenwald. And all that was meant to diminish the humanity of human beings.

You spoke of humanity, Mr. President. Though unto us, in those times, it was human to be inhuman. And now the world has learned, I hope. And of course this hope includes so many of what now would be your vision for the future, Mr. President. A sense of security for Israel, a sense of security for its neighbors, to bring peace in that place. The time must come. It's enough -- enough to go to cemeteries, enough to weep for oceans. It's enough. There must come a moment -- a moment of bringing people together.

And therefore we say anyone who comes here should go back with that resolution. Memory must bring people together rather than set them apart. Memories here not to sow anger in our hearts, but on the contrary, a sense of solidarity that all those who need us. What else can we do except invoke that memory so that people everywhere who say the 21st century is a century of new beginnings, filled with promise and infinite hope, and at times profound gratitude to all those who believe in our task, which is to improve the human condition.

A great man, Camus, wrote at the end of his marvelous novel, The Plague: "After all," he said, "after the tragedy, never the rest...there is more in the human being to celebrate than to denigrate." Even that can be found as truth -- painful as it is -- in Buchenwald.

Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to come back to my father's grave, which is still in my heart.

http://z.about.com/d/history1900s/1/0/p/7/buchenwald5.jpg

I just wanted to add that the men were moved by the last line. The power of humanity for good is a

concept they find themselves in the middle of. I also think it is important to point out most of these men

are very sensitive to issues and are extremely well-read. In addition to the Holocaust we discussed

Africa, Asia, genocide, and slavery. I find it inspirational that men who are convicted and imprisoned

find so much from education and information. When I related these issues to a individual basis I asked

them what this meant for us. And they truly seemed to believe in the idea of understanding and knowledge.

Address At The United States Vietnam War Memorial
Veterans' Day 1996
by Kim Phuc
Vietnam War survivor

November 11, 1996 - Washington D.C.

Dear Friends:

I am very happy to be with you today. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk and meet with you on this Veterans' Day.

As you know I am the little girl who was running to escape from the napalm fire. I do not want to talk about the war because I cannot change history.

I only want you to remember the tragedy of war in order to do things to stop fighting and killing around the world.

I have suffered a lot from both physical and emotional pain. Sometimes I thought I could not live, but God saved me and gave me faith and hope.

Even if I could talk face to face with the pilot who dropped the bombs, I would tell him we cannot change history but we should try to do good things for the present and for the future to promote peace.

I did not think that I could marry nor have any children because of my burns, but now I have a wonderful husband and lovely son and a happy family.

Dear friends, I just dream one day people all over the world can live in real peace--no fighting, and no hostility. We should work together to build peace and happiness for all people in all nations.

Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this important day.

http://blindflaneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/napalm_kim_phuc.jpg

Fourth Session: Loosened up

This week’s session was powerful and drove the classroom into new understandings of tutors and students. After last week’s reaction to the pieces, as good as they were, I felt we needed to take this discussion up a notch. So I found two speeches and two pictures that fit them. One speech by Kim Phuc and her picture as the little girl running away from napalm fire during the Vietnam War and the other speech by Elie Wiesel and a picture of the holocaust victims and the ovens. I did not know how the men would react to the content but I figured I should give it a shot. If it didn’t work then we would proceed to tutoring proper. Well one factor I did not account for was the lack of tutors this week. In total there was only Joe, Alonna and myself. We knew there would be a good number of inmates not only because the semester is rolling along but it was cold out and yard time might not be appealing.

We needed a game plan and fast. Three tutors 15 men who needed help in their studies. We thought that because we were unprepared for this mini crisis we would have a longer discussion and split up into larger groups of 3-5 depending on subject need. Our longer conversation we hoped and prayed would follow through worked like a charm. We began by looking at the Holocaust pictures and Elie Wiesel’s speech at Buchenwald on June 2009. The gentleman who raised his hand to read prefaced with “I am not a good reader, but I’ll read. Here to learn aren’t I?” We (yes as a class) encouraged him to read it and he did a fantastic job. Yes he stumbled on many words but his rhythm was perfect. It truly captured the emotion, and power of the piece. Elie Wiesel would have to take his hat off to that reading. Looking around the room to see the reaction men began to loosen their shoulders as the speech went on, there was a sigh of understanding, you could see the sadness of the piece mirrored in their eyes. No doubt it touched them and on many levels they found it profound. There was a brief silence after the piece was read. One man raised his hand and it sparked conversation that never took place in any of the sessions before.

We talked about reparations, war, corruption, power, humanity, world leaders, Obama (whom they love), responsibility, symbolism and so much more. It was profound and I was moved. They became more real to me at that point. They were less like shapes and more like men with ideas, opinions, thoughts and the will to voice to them. The idea of national and global responsibility was a huge topic. So many of them believed in Obama and yet others feel like there will ever be a change. One comment made about finding a deeper understanding through education and history really spoke to me because that is what I believe in. Another gentleman asked how we could unite as a country when we are all so different, race, religion, and class. My answer led to the piece about Vietnam War. I told him that the picture and others like it unites us all because it is a burden we carry as a nation and there is no escaping history. And although it is not a pretty picture or ideal it is a point to begin changing for the better. When we talked about Vietnam, the speech and the picture the men surprised me with their compassion towards the young girl. In fact the men said in whispers that I was very passionate and knowledgeable which touched me. I was happy to hear that not because it was a very nice compliment but I know realize I want to be there and I put effort into my work for them.

In this session almost everyone spoke up but I think it is because it is a passionate subject and everyone wants to put in a thought. Even when we were talking over each other the men politely asked to complete his thought or to interject a thought.

And as a last thought to this note the young man I mention last post did not attend session this week. My idealism was both uplifted and broken at the same time. I hope he attends next week but I cannot force it. No to break a good image and good day but in the world nothing is perfect but some things can be good.

Please stay tuned for the posting the speeches and pictures.

Third session: Losing Formalities

My tutoring session this week left me pondering many topics: the quality of a person, the justice system, education, and most of all a world within a world. I wanted to dive into these issues today but without proper research I don’t think I can analyze much. All I can do is try to determine what brought on these thoughts and how I see them in my sessions as a positive or negative.

To begin with I want to state for the record that I tutored two new prisoners last week with Alonna. One of them the youngest person in the prison, 19 years old. This is what got the wheels turning in my head. 19, is so young. My goodness I was 19 two years ago. How could this be? He is going for his GED, and all I could think was if someone just got to him in time he wouldn’t be here. If someone, or an idea had reached out he would not be there. Young enough to pass for high school but old enough to go to ‘grownup’ jail. How does one determine where an 18-19 year old goes? So young but legally ‘adult’ and to feel the burden of a maximum penitentiary must be a quick way to grow up. Any last moments of childhood disappear and the beginning of manhood ripped away. He is a sponge to learn which leads me to my next point: education.

Perhaps it is the reality of confinement but these men take to learning and education like bees to honey. It is a determination I only saw in honor students in high school. The tutoring sessions are optional and that time could be spent in the yard instead. I have had some experience in elementary and middle school classrooms that I know the makings of a good teacher and the signs of a student in trouble. I don’t claim to have all the right techniques but I know when someone needs a kind word or reinforcement. And there is ‘blood’ on everyone’s hand who didn’t reach out to him. Yes he might have been a difficult youth but the idealist in me wants to believe that someone could have stepped in.

The discussion we began with revolved around three pieces we read by Langston Hughes, Tupac Shakur, and Maya Angelou. All three about facing adversity as a black person. The class was bigger this time around and a lot of new faces were present. We didn’t get a discussion to flow but a few thoughtful comments were made. One inmate asked if Alonna brought in these pieces because they were black and in jail. She expected the question and answered it with poise stating “no, these are some of my favorites and I wanted to share them”. They said to us that they obviously related to the idea of trying to overcome a hard situation, being black, and understood the meaning. It seemed as though one man was controlling the direction of the discussion and others who had other views could not speak. I could not help but think they were testing their waters and our motives. This type of behavior was exactly what I was waiting for. It symbolized the end of ‘getting to know yous’ and diving into the deeper issues. And I knew that if I ever doubted my reason to be there it would have to happen now or I could not turn back.

This swaying and persuasion of discussion by one person or a group of people is common in many classes but this taught Alonna and me that we needed to find interesting and unique subjects to discuss for the next weeks. I also thought about the inner workings of the societies within the prison system playing itself out, and even dissolving when we get into tutoring groups. If two men who don’t talk or get along need help in reading comprehension and I am the tutor well they will have to deal with sitting at the same table.

We broke up into groups and Alonna and I began to work with two men. One a man who looks to be in his early thirties and the young man I wrote about. We began to work from the GED book and teaching them about sentence structures, fragments, compound sentences and comma use. It began with Alonna and I explaining the passages and rules but then it progressed into something more. There was participation, active analysis, and learning on the part of the inmate. I was extremely impressed. I don’t know if they knew each other but by the middle of our tutoring they began to help each other out answering, explaining and identifying problems with sentence structures.

A question for myself to examine at further sessions and keep in mind while I research is if the classroom is considered a different place than the prison they live in? Do they become students who have to cooperate in the same classroom with fighting and being part of one group/gang doesn’t matter anymore? Or does it exist on a level I cannot see yet? I want to know if a power struggle in prison could seep into the classroom but on an intellectual level. All interesting things to look into.