"In
those times there was darkness everywhere. In heaven and on earth, all the
gates of compassion seemed to have been closed. The killer killed and the Jews
died and the outside world adopted an attitude either of complicity or of
indifference. Only a few had the courage to care. These few men and women were
vulnerable, afraid, helpless - what made them different from their fellow
citizens?… Why were there so few?… Let us remember: What hurts the victim most
is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander…. Let us
not forget, after all, there is always a moment when moral choice is made…. And
so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must
learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them."
-
Elie Wiesel, in Carol Rittner, Sandra Meyers, Courage To Care - Rescuers of
Jews during the Holocaust, NYU Press, 1986. P. 2]
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