Why I Write Analysis

"Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shall not be a bystander." The words spoken by Yehuda Bauer, a Holocaust studies professor, illustrates the need for writings such as Elie Weasel’s Why I Write to be taught to high schoolers’. Literature relating to the Holocaust and other historical atrocities can be violent, dark, and depressing, but such writings are essential to teach future generations what it’s like to be a victim, the atrocities committed by the perpetrators, and most importantly, how to help prevent future genocides by standing up for what is right. During the events of the Holocaust, over 14 million people were killed. As time progresses, new generations risk reducing millions of individual lives to a simple numerical figure. It is an essential task to share the pain, tragedy, and overall experiences of people who experienced the Holocaust. In Why I Write, one of the answers to the titular question is “To wrench those victims from

Often people want to censor or hide information regarding the ideas that contributed to massive atrocities, but it is important that future generations can identify the patterns of thought that can lead to those events. In Why I Write, Elie Weasel says “Our Jewish children had no effect upon the killers,” reflecting on the lack of regard even for children by the perpetrators of the Holocaust. While these actions seem obviously evil and wrong to the normal reader, at one time an entire nation was complacent while murders of millions of people took place. In the fight to prevent future tragedies, it is vital that the public can recognize the social and political ideas that lead down the slope to extreme behavior. If one wishes to prevent future evils, they must be able to identify evil when it