Similarities Between 'Why I Write And A Letter To Harvey Milk'

Survivors of the most horrific event in history are left suffering long after the Nazis were defeated. Elie Wiesel from "Why I Write" and Harry Weinberg from "A Letter to Harvey Milk" are among these survivors who's lives were catastrophically altered due to the events that they were forced to endure. Both men differ in the ways they as survivors should cope with the trauma that they experienced and still suffer with daily. They personally deal with their psychological trauma in separate ways and differ in their reasoning for exposing their stories. After a change in the character of Harry Weinberg both survivors then similarly believe the events of this horrific genocide should be shared to the world, they want people to reach an understanding

Whereas others choose to suppress their memories, this is their way of finding peace and moving on with their life. The difference in individuals ways of coping with the trauma of the holocaust is justified in the opposition of opinions that Harry Weinberg and Elie Wiesel possess. Ellie Wiesel believes that the sharing of stories and memories from the Holocaust is crucial as it was "the last wish of the dead", therefore he holds himself as responsible to "devote [his] life to testify on behalf" of the people who did not make it out of World War II or the concentration camps alive. Wiesel writes "to remain faithful" to everyone who suffered the most appalling genocide in history; and to develop an understanding amongst all people of the ghastly events that took place under the Nazi's reign. Harry Weinberg portrays survivors that choose to let their stories and memories be forgotten and swept along as they find peace in their new life away from the horrific events that plague their memory. Early on in the story Weinberg wants to forget all that he had to endure as it is too painful to allow the memories to

Weinberg then feels a sense of injustice and understands that his memories and stories must be shared so the world could understand the hardships that the Jewish population as well as the homosexuals endured. The events of the Holocaust are those which both Elie Wiesel and Harry Weinberg similarly believe should be shared. They speak to let the world know the horrendous atrocity to mankind that was the Holocaust, so future generations know the horrors that were encountered in the concentration camps in World War II. Both Jewish men think "the world shouldn't forget" the most atrocious crime committed by man. They share their stories because "the fear of forgetting remains the main obsession of all those who have passed through the universe of the damned". Though both Wiesel and Weinberg are strong advocates for the sharing of memories and stories, they both are still able to comprehend the complexity of the stories and find it to be a struggle at times to speak of the topic because the emotions can overwhelm them. They recognize the depth of these stories that they have to tell and understand, though in Weinbergs case with frustration, that it is difficult to have modern day society understand the austerity of the Holocaust. Weinberg witnesses the disconnect in the generations when he sees gays "wearing pink triangles, just like the war, just like the camps" and he feels a sense of frustration for their lack of ability to completely comprehend the strain