Too often we imperfect human beings forget (perhaps some of us do not even know) that ‘Light’ is not possible without ‘Darkness.’ This is a paradox. For example: How many of us believe that ‘Wisdom’ is all ‘Light’? How many of us understand that there is a dark side to ‘Wisdom’? Among other things, the ‘Dark Side of Wisdom’ includes (but is not limited to): war, human-made famine, pestilence, and fear of the ‘stranger/other.’
Salvatore Quasimodo’s quiet and profound poem on Auschwitz captures this. ‘Auschwitz’ is a powerful classic poem of compassion, empathy, reason and reminder. It is not devoid of horror – how could a reflection on Auschwitz be devoid of horror – yet it invites inquiry and contemplation (‘specifically, in what ways do I support the darkness that envelopes my/the world today?’).
Auschwitz is one sign, one unnerving reminder, of the depraved wisdom of men who judge by the measure of hubris rooted in fear (today, in our country, for example, the ‘alt-right’ appears to be rooted in fear). The ‘Light of Wisdom’ is rooted in ‘man the creator’ and the ‘Dark Side of Wisdom’ is rooted in ‘man the exterminator.’
Auschwitz is ‘the judgment’ upon those who said ‘yes’ to a philosophy which held that some people were not fully-human and hence they were a threat to the ‘pure’ – to those who ‘lived in the Light.’ The ‘Wisdom’ of those who said ‘yes’ to this philosophy morphed into a ‘solution’ – a ‘final solution’ – their ‘Wisdom’ was the parent that produced the offspring Auschwitz.
The ‘Dark Side of Wisdom’ judges itself by its own impotence and its own incapacity to bestow on us anything but death: Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Spiritual Death. Auschwitz is one sign of judgment. Auschwitz is also a reminder that ‘people of the light’ are capable of becoming ‘people of the darkness.’
Do I, you (gentle reader) and ‘we’ truly believe that we are, at our best living paradoxes? We are both ‘good and evil;’ we are both ‘virtue and vice;’ we are both ‘light and darkness.’ We are capable of creating, if not Auschwitz, a society that espouses ‘freedom and equality’ but not for all (lest we forget, our Founding Fathers fought for freedom and equality – but not for all. This was the ‘Dark Side of Their Wisdom’).
We fear our ‘Dark Side’ and so we attempt to export it by projecting it upon ‘the other’ – the stranger, the immigrant, the ‘evil empire,’ or the ‘other political party or the other candidate,’ etc. We fear our ‘Dark Side’ and so we attack anyone who we believe is ‘not with us’ – thus, the person who criticizes our actions or who questions our motives or who reveals and names the ‘Dark Side’ of our Nation becomes the ‘IT’ that must be dealt with.
This week, for example, one of those seeking to become our next President told a non-violent protester that he should find another country to live in – so much for freedom of voice. What is sad, and frightening for me, is that there was virtually no push-back in response to this candidate’s position. No voice from any of his fellow political party members condemned this candidate’s words; none in his party decried his blatant attack on one of our most espoused and cherished freedoms. The ‘Dark Side of Wisdom’ was revealed and was greeted with ‘silence.’ In 1936 the ‘Dark Side of Wisdom’ was also greeted with ‘silence’ and out of the void was birthed Auschwitz.