MEMORY IS THE ANSWER
Sydney H. Schanberg
My father was poor growing up and when his hard work
brought him in middle age to a place where he was no longer
poor， his memory of those difficult years informed his life in a
manner that made him very good at helping others who were
down on their luck. He took care of his family first but he didn t
forget the others.
These thoughts have rushed upon me because he died a
little over a week ago， and when a parent dies we grope for
meaning. Moreover， in the jumbled， private days following his
death， the outside world--murmuring for attention--was also
discussing memory and morality.
Elie Wiesel， our teacher of the Holocaust， a child of the
concentration camps， was telling the President: ~This is why
survivors， of whom you spoke， Mr. President， have tried to teach
their contemporaries how to build on ruins， how to invent hope
in a world that offers none， how to proclaim faith to a generation
that has seen it shamed and mutilated. And I believe， we believe，
that memory is the answer， perhaps the only answer.\"
Speaking of the concentration camps， Mr. Wiesel said: \"Mr
President， 1 was there， l was there when American liberators
arrived. And they gave us back our lives. And what I felt for
them then nourishes me to the end of my days We are
grateful to this country， the greatest democracy in the world， the
freest nation in the world， the moral nation.\"
Sometimes Presidents and policy makers， caught and dis-
tracted by their geopolitical balancing acts， seem to lose the
Copyright ~ 1985， by the New York Times Co. Reprinted by permission.
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