The events marked at Auschwitz last Monday (for Holocaust Memorial Day) were a sombre international reminder of the terrible death camps maintained by the Nazi regime. We will be seeing more of such anniversaries this year, notably in April, recalling the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, whose revelations really shocked the world.
There is now a large amount of what might be called “Holocaust literature”. But if we were only to read one book about it, I believe that Elie Wiesel’s account, Night, should be that book. It’s a slim paperback of just over 100 pages.
Wiesel’s family lived in a small Transylvanian town, Sighet; the Jewish community there were warned that the Nazis were rounding up and killing Jews (as well as other victims). Although it was 1944, local people just didn’t take the warnings seriously.
Elie and his family were transported on cattle trucks to Auschwitz. His mother and little sister were gassed immediately; he and his father, able-bodied males, were put to work”
Elie himself, then a young boy, was very religious, studying Jewish mysticism, and at first it all seemed to be happening outside his orbit. Anyway, rumours circulated that the Allies were winning the war – which they were. But the Nazi mentality was that – as defeat loomed – they made haste to send more victims to the death camps.
And so the persecution began, and Elie and his family were transported on cattle trucks to Auschwitz. His mother and little sister were gassed immediately; he and his father, able-bodied males, were put to work. The notorious Dr Mengele even inspected them.
This harrowing account of his experiences is written with great simplicity, and full of small, telling details. Jews were not allowed to perform German music, and yet one talented young violinist yearned to play Beethoven, and he died with his violin.
Attitudes
Night not only reports the Auschwitz experience but goes some way to explain Israel’s subsequent tough attitudes: many Jews were critical of Jewish communities’ passivity in the face of the Nazi persecution.
Elie Wiesel wrote this memoir in 1958 but found it difficult to get published. People wanted to forget the past. Then, he was significantly helped by the French Catholic novelist, François Mauriac, who doggedly pursued publishers on his behalf. Eventually, Mauriac got Night published in French. However, initially it made little impact. Only in the 1970s did it achieve global attention, when the world was finally ready to listen.
Elie Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1986, and in his acceptance spoke a prayer of gratitude “to our common Creator”. “Blessed be Thou, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this day.” Despite the horrors he had seen, he retained faith.
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The artist’s deeper outlook
Bob Dylan’s spiritual side does not feature in the striking new biopic of his life A Complete Unknown – but then, he only converted to an Evangelical Christianity in the 1970s, and the movie focuses on the 1960s. Yet what it does bring out is Dylan’s capacity to think in philosophical terms and see experience from a bigger-picture perspective (he’s also portrayed – as played by the actor Timothée Chalamet – as an awkward sod, as many creative artists are).
Later, in 1997, Dylan would perform before Pope John Paul II and an audience of 300,000 young people at Bologna; and the Pontiff would give a sermon based on Dylan’s immortal Blowin’ in the Wind.
And the lyrics of The Times They Are A-Changing remain so prescient, and relatable. As I left the cinema, in the company of some other members of a generation who were young in the 1960s, how true these words still are today: “The present now/Will later be past/And the first one now/Will later be last.” Straight from the New Testament too.
As the feast-day of St Valentine approaches, young people (and some not-so-young) may be hoping to find romance. So, I feel compelled to quote some priceless advice for lonely-heart women given by social etiquette queen Mary Killen in The Spectator.
A single woman in her thirties wrote to lament the fact that she finds it hard to meet “intelligent, interesting bachelors” and that “Apps are hopeless”. The lady looks for suitable chaps at literary parties, but most seem to be married, or treat women casually.
Mary tells her correspondent that she is “looking in the wrong places”. When eligible men know they are a “scarce commodity”, this prompts “commitment-phobia”. Search further afield, Mary advises. “Start attending lectures and conferences in theoretical physics or quantum mechanics where 98% of the audience is guaranteed to be male.” Seek out science or tekkie events where “nerdier types” who “only need a makeover” can be found. Maybe take a course in these fields of study, she counsels.
Mary Killen (sometimes seen on the TV show ‘Gogglebox’) is a very observant and delightfully shrewd Northern Irish lass. Her advice on the age-old quest for the right romantic partner is entirely sensible!