Ravages of Oppression, Denial, and the Life of the Forgotten
Through the Eyes of Elie Wiesel's Book
The Accident
A Complimentary 4 Part Series
with Dr. Michael Conforti
Virtual events conducted on the Zoom Platform
Sponsored by the Assisi Foundation
Endorsed by the Washington DC Jung Society
Through the Eyes of Elie Wiesel's Book
The Accident
A Complimentary 4 Part Series
with Dr. Michael Conforti
Virtual events conducted on the Zoom Platform
Sponsored by the Assisi Foundation
Endorsed by the Washington DC Jung Society
"She wanted to make me happy no matter what. To make me taste the pleasures of life. To make me forget the past. "Your past is dead. Dead and Buried" she would say. And I would answer, "I am my past. If it's buried, I'm buried with it." (Elie Wiesel in The Accident pg. 62)
Elie Wiesel's, The Accident, speaks of a life accompanied by unimaginable trauma. Many who have read this work have wept, feeling for the first time that someone truly understands, from the inside, the actual life experiences of one living in a world of trauma. Written as a novel, but telling the story of his life, it speaks of "trying to make a life" after liberation from Auschwitz. For Wiesel's nameless protagonist, denial and obliteration had already been decimated by life in the camps, He could never forget. Mnemosyne yet no Lethe!!!
The horrors of the past never faded, but walked lockstep, side by side with his current reality. His memories were not a telling of a distant past, but a continual re-experiencing of a reality that forever more he would live, renewed each day through uninvited remembrances. Like an eclipse, these memories blinded him to the reality of his current life, colliding with the present, and on a daily basis obliterating what should be his future.
Memories have no boundaries. They are shapeshifters, contorting current reality to fit the contours of the past. We see the intrusive nature of these memories as our hero and his lover Kathleen are walking hand in hand when she sees smoke coming out of a chimney. For her, an intimation of romance, but for him, wisps of smoke were his final vision of his mother and sister. A crematorium. Forced to remember what should never be spoken of again.
Wiesel writes, "the dead never give up the living...", so this past becomes the only reality. While memories may welcome a future, these only steal what could be. It is his brilliance to unflinchingly tell the story of such a life, constantly wrestling and intermingling with the demons of the past, with a promise of the present, and a probable future - Not once does Wiesel's The Accident descend into a delusional offer of hope, but consistently offers an uncompromising portrayal trauma and suffering.
I had the good fortune to meet with Elie Wiesel and in our discussion I suggested that psychology and many of our religious traditions have done an injustice to those who suffer the unimaginable. He said that," perhaps the only truly moral and spiritual response is to be with them, perhaps in silence." Free from the distractions of therapeutic and religious euphemisms we come face to face with the reality of such pain."
While theories about trauma, its origins, effects, and cures abound, we still know very little about one's inner experience of trauma. Theories of resilience, hope, and the nigredo do not reach a person residing within "these moments". It is Wiesel's unwavering faith in the divine and courage to journey to this no mans land that extends a hand in this darkness and a way of finally understanding something about the emotions which silently wrap us in their grip.
Our hope is to find a way to walk with both realities, and to experience those moments where dreams of a good life reside. Hope comes in many different forms. Elie Wiesel and his wife Marion had a child, and understood that to not celebrate this new life, would be to allow the past and the oppressors to win again. In opening their hearts to their child, they opened their souls to hope and to the possibilities which for far too long remained.
It may well be that when understanding something of the profound experiences of trauma we find that therapy has come to the end of the road. Something dramatically different, perhaps a spiritual approach to life, Psyche and Self, is needed if there is any hope of retrieving the soul that has been taken hostage by the past.
Elie Wiesel's, The Accident, speaks of a life accompanied by unimaginable trauma. Many who have read this work have wept, feeling for the first time that someone truly understands, from the inside, the actual life experiences of one living in a world of trauma. Written as a novel, but telling the story of his life, it speaks of "trying to make a life" after liberation from Auschwitz. For Wiesel's nameless protagonist, denial and obliteration had already been decimated by life in the camps, He could never forget. Mnemosyne yet no Lethe!!!
The horrors of the past never faded, but walked lockstep, side by side with his current reality. His memories were not a telling of a distant past, but a continual re-experiencing of a reality that forever more he would live, renewed each day through uninvited remembrances. Like an eclipse, these memories blinded him to the reality of his current life, colliding with the present, and on a daily basis obliterating what should be his future.
Memories have no boundaries. They are shapeshifters, contorting current reality to fit the contours of the past. We see the intrusive nature of these memories as our hero and his lover Kathleen are walking hand in hand when she sees smoke coming out of a chimney. For her, an intimation of romance, but for him, wisps of smoke were his final vision of his mother and sister. A crematorium. Forced to remember what should never be spoken of again.
Wiesel writes, "the dead never give up the living...", so this past becomes the only reality. While memories may welcome a future, these only steal what could be. It is his brilliance to unflinchingly tell the story of such a life, constantly wrestling and intermingling with the demons of the past, with a promise of the present, and a probable future - Not once does Wiesel's The Accident descend into a delusional offer of hope, but consistently offers an uncompromising portrayal trauma and suffering.
I had the good fortune to meet with Elie Wiesel and in our discussion I suggested that psychology and many of our religious traditions have done an injustice to those who suffer the unimaginable. He said that," perhaps the only truly moral and spiritual response is to be with them, perhaps in silence." Free from the distractions of therapeutic and religious euphemisms we come face to face with the reality of such pain."
While theories about trauma, its origins, effects, and cures abound, we still know very little about one's inner experience of trauma. Theories of resilience, hope, and the nigredo do not reach a person residing within "these moments". It is Wiesel's unwavering faith in the divine and courage to journey to this no mans land that extends a hand in this darkness and a way of finally understanding something about the emotions which silently wrap us in their grip.
Our hope is to find a way to walk with both realities, and to experience those moments where dreams of a good life reside. Hope comes in many different forms. Elie Wiesel and his wife Marion had a child, and understood that to not celebrate this new life, would be to allow the past and the oppressors to win again. In opening their hearts to their child, they opened their souls to hope and to the possibilities which for far too long remained.
It may well be that when understanding something of the profound experiences of trauma we find that therapy has come to the end of the road. Something dramatically different, perhaps a spiritual approach to life, Psyche and Self, is needed if there is any hope of retrieving the soul that has been taken hostage by the past.
Presentation Dates and Languages:
Live events - English only:
12:00 - 1:00 pm US Eastern Time
Saturdays on March 20, 27 and April 3, 10
Recordings of these lectures will be sent on March 25 and April 1, 8 and 15
Multilingual - Italian, Russian and Spanish
Recorded sub-titled video will be sent on
March 25 and April 1, 8 and 15
Live events - English only:
12:00 - 1:00 pm US Eastern Time
Saturdays on March 20, 27 and April 3, 10
Recordings of these lectures will be sent on March 25 and April 1, 8 and 15
Multilingual - Italian, Russian and Spanish
Recorded sub-titled video will be sent on
March 25 and April 1, 8 and 15
