I've read more than a few accounts as to why the great humanitarian Elie Wiesel hates Gypsies. There are many non-Rroma who say they can understand his feelings, understand his anger. Then why is he the great humanitarian he is? Consider his own words:
"Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair."
unless, of course, this applies to a Gypsy. It was a Gypsy that struck his father, and that strike has been debated over the years in questioning him. Was it a beating or a slap? There was a point when he admitted that it was one slap. I understand the love of a son for his father, but he began to preach tolerance. Should he not practice what he believes in? Are all Rromani guilty because a kapo in a death camp was trying to stay alive a little longer? Should the Jews who stayed alive by working in the special units of cleaning up and tearing apart the dead be equally condemned?
"Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another."
Why then does this great humanitarian offer us hope? Apparently it is a gift he selects who he will give it to. And yet...
"I decided to devote my life to telling the story because I felt that having survived I owe something to the dead, and anyone who does not remember betrays them again."
By deciding to fight against the Rroma inclusion, he betrays the dead. But it does not seem to bother him because they are Gypsy dead.
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, not the tormented."
From the historical point of view of the Holocaust, what of the "other victims?" The Catholics, the Jehovah's Witnesses? The Muslims? The Rroma? Why does he not step forward for all? Why select out the Gypsies? Because of one man? One kapo? What of current events? Does he stay silent while the Rroma are fingerprinted, photographed, deported? Does he not see history repeating itself?
Why the world calls him a great humanitarian is beyond me. He is just as guilty of racism and denial as a common man.
Should the Rromani people forgive him? When I see him practice his own words, then I will. When he begins to do what is right instead of repressing those who are as dead as his people, then I will. Until then, no. After all, do not Rromani sons equally love their Rromani fathers?
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