Oprah & Elie

I just saw Oprah's special w/Elie Weisel. Mr. Weisel's accent is so cute. It reminds me of my b/f's parents' accent. They're from Poland too.

But oh my god: I've never felt so sad without tears able to sooth me. I read Anne Frank's diaries and I learned the Holocaust details in history class. But Mr. Weisel's personal account was extroadinary, remarkable, inspirational and daunting.
Here's some things I hope to never forget that Mr. Weisel said:

"Here (in Ausherwitz) there is no God.
There is only the God of death."
At 1st, it didnt make sense to me: how can a person who's alive need to get used to life? But as he explained that in the Holocaust he couldnt shed a tear at the time for all those who died because he didnt know if he could stop crying; while in the outside world, U cry for all those who die. What a contrast! I've always associated death w/funerals and tears. But to not be able to cry for someone's death seems to take away the humanity behind it.

OPRAH: "How did you overcome this hate for those who did all
those?"
ELIE: "I write and teach to sentizize
people of this atrocity. But I don't believe in hate. I feel angry. I feel angry
because I was helpless. I've seen people starving all around the world. I've
seen children hugging their mothers, starving. And I feel angry because I can't
do anything but shout helplessly."

OPRAH: "It's amazing that you're alive and sane."
ELIE: "Alive: yes. Sane? I don't know if I'm crazy or not. Maybe I'm crazy for still believing in the humanity of
human beings."

This special has made clear to me several things: all person (black, Jewish, white, Muslim, asian, Christian, or Latino) is united by actions of mankind. There was Rwanda. There was the Haitian genocide during Trujillo's dictatorship. And there was so many others whose voices have been silenced by time and ignorance. We have to hear those who cry and scream during our lifetimes.

Note: Photo copied from the website Oprah.com