Acceptance Speech Of 1986 By Elie Wiesel Summary

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In Elie Wiesel’s acceptance speech of 1986 he stated that “when human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must –at that moment – become the center of the universe.” Considering the events that occurred in World War I, such as the Holocaust, I strongly agree with Wiesel’s statement about making those who are endangered our priority. It is the duty of those who inhabit this world to protect and set the imprisoned free regardless the circumstances. If no one has the courage to step up and do something to help, the oppressor will end up believing that treating people unjustly and forbid them from their freedom is indeed right. …show more content…

A great example of this is World War II, in which the United States fought against Japan. The executive order President Franklin signed ordered all Japanese living in the West Coast to evacuate and to be placed into internment camps because Americans thought that all Japanese Americans were spies that were relaying secret information back to Japan. According to PBS the Japanese Americans that were relocated "were incarcerated for up to 4 years, without due process of law or any factual basis, in bleak, remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards". Although many people knew about the internment camps, there was not much done in order to try and stop what was going on. Eventually the majority of Americans forgot about the problem and focused in raising up the economy after the war. The creation of one of the darkest times in History was eventually created due to the fact that no one stepped in to try and get rid of the