After having our amazing Librarian find this speech for me, I am going to teach it to my English 30-2 class. It is poignant and needs to read by everyone. When we study the speech I will be teaching rhetorical devices and speech writing but I will also be emphasizing the importance of his words and the importance of our human condition.Please take some time to read his amazing speech, "The Perils of Indifference"
Very compelling. The question and answer available at the end (following the link) is very good too. Heavy stuff but so important for us to understand as best we can. I liked his point in the Q&A where he says he would not want to be that last survivor because of all the pressure they would feel to make sure that the stories live on; that the memories live on. It's a point I had not really thought of before. In my lifetime there have always been "survivors" around to reference, to learn from to talk to. The were a generation or two removed but there. I look at McKenzie and think she won't have that. Likely there won't be a survivor that she can interview, talk to, learn from first hand. Her knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust will come from essays, stories, second hand memories. She has to trust that they were written down correctly. She won't be able to ask her own questions of those who were there. It puts the pressure on all of us who have talked to someone who was there to keep that feeling; that spirit; that knowledge alive and real for those that come after us. And yes Kari, I know this little blurb once again makes me a keaner; however; it's your fault for making me think...you, you, you...good teacher you!
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