TE15 Lithuanian Honey Cake

Irena: Life Should Be Clear

Bauman has warned us that a potential Eichmann exists within each of us. It is therefore very important to preserve our critical thinking in every situation, and not to succumb to indoctrination. I can only hope that I was protected from “banal evil” by two things: critical thinking and the desire to remain myself; and the tendency, in any situation, to see not only evil, but also the goodness and beauty of life and human beings. That is probably why I cannot remember the faces of any of those who persecuted me, whether Gestapo or NKVD officers. All that remains in my memory is the image of their shiny boots. I have probably told you about a dream that I have had several times. I’m sitting in a room full of Persian rugs with my daughter, who is around ten years old. We are happy and are experiencing a state of perfect harmony. It ’s cosy. But then the door, which is also covered in a Persian rug, opens suddenly and a man approaches us. I cannot see his face—only his shiny boots. He holds a pistol in one hand and there is a very pretty, blond-haired and blue-eyed boy of around six standing next to him. Thrusting the pistol into my hand, the man screams in an unearthly voice: “Shoot this boy or I will shoot your daughter!” I am holding the pistol in my hand and pressing my daughter even closer to me when . . . I wake up. My first thought upon awakening is: “Thank God that I did not shoot the boy, even in my dream!”

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