Page 158 - Centrum Dialogu im. Marka Edelmana. Edelman. The Man

Marek Edelman.
The Man

He was one of those who opposed the evil, even when it was
so overwhelmingly strong that it left no space for hope. He
considered work for the common good his duty and made
decisions concerning life and death keeping that in mind.
He did not let the others forget about dignity and freedom.
We could call him a hero it it were not for the fact that he
disliked that word and always escaped from pedestals.
Marek Edelman (1919-2009) was the last leader of the
uprising in the Warsaw ghetto, a doctor determined to
fight for his patients’ lives, a co-founder of ‘Solidarity’ and
a social activist involved in the defence of human rights.

He kept saying that hatred is easy and love requires
sacrifice and effort. But in order for the humanity to survive,
one has to build on the love to other people and teach it to
the subsequent generations; and the beauty of life is about
the love existing between people. It existed even in the
ghetto.

His accounts and memories of his personal experience,
as well as numerous interviews and talks, preserve the
memory of what happened in the past. They can also serve
as a mirror for contemporary times.

Marek Edelman is still talking to us about what was and
is important – or, sometimes, essential. He tells us the truth
about the Human, who sometimes happens to be weak,
evil and cruel, but also proud, dignified, full of empathy
and solidarity with other people. And he makes us think
who we are. And who we want to be.