Standing Up To Oppressors

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Responding to Conflict By Standing Up to Oppressors Is it easier to avoid conflict, or is it better to face it? The easiest decision may not be the best way to respond to conflict; sometimes more strenuous decisions help others out of conflict. People such as Anne Frank and Elie Wiesel have shown people that standing up to oppressors all the while keeping a positive attitude is a great way to deal with conflict. However; other individuals claim that talking to other people and keeping a positive attitude is the best way to resolve a conflict. Nevertheless, helping other people by standing up to an oppressor is in fact the best way to respond to a conflict.

Finding peaceful resolutions, even when faced by autocrats is beneficial for people.
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As stated by Elie Wiesel in his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, “What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their voices are stifled we shall lend them ours, that while their freedom depends on ours, the equality of our freedom depends on theirs…” (Wiesel 418). Elie Wiesel protected the victims of the Holocaust by ensuring to fight for their freedom and that other their families. Standing up for victims, Wiesel inspired thousands of people not to use silence as a way of coping with conflict, but to use the power of words to overcome an enemy. Another example of someone helping others overcome conflict was Irena Sendler. According to 10 People Who Helped European Jews Escape During World War Two she was a member of the Polish Underground who helped save about two thousand Jewish children by forging false documents so they could escape the ghetto and find shelter in other people’s homes. In doing so, Irena Sendler dealt with the conflict of World War Two by helping others find safety. Countless people were saved, and that on it’s own is powerful. During World War Two, a time period when tensions were high, Jews were forced to band together to get through the conflict. Moreover “An important byproduct of this focus was a deepening of Jewish consciousness and a strengthening of inner bonds of Jewish solidarity under persecution” (Vashem 7). In conclusion, by staying together, the Jews were able to deal with the conflict (the Nazis) to make a greater difference in the lives of their fellow thus keeping close ties between family members and groups can also strengthen people and help them deal with