ABSTRACT
Lifton speaks as a wise, deeply engaged, and ethically charged, indeed prophetic, witness to an extreme century. Prophets, we know, are not those who predict the future but are constituted by their impassioned plea for morality and justice. Abraham Heschel (1962) described prophets as those who “feel fiercely” (p. 5), “assault our minds” (p. 12), and challenge our sacred certainties and institutions, exposing our scandalous pretensions. In his article Lifton mentions that when he was contemplating his work with Nazi doctors, several Jewish friends advised him that Judiasm advocated that we “let evil lie.” But all one needs to do is read Heschel’s study of the prophets to counter that misleading claim. The prophet, however, bears scorn and reproach, and witnessing is dangerous; witnesses risk being killed for their testimonies, hence martyrdom derives from bearing
witness and it is just this danger that makes witnessing sacred. In the words of Amos 5:10:
They hate him who reproves in the gate, They abhor him who speaks the truth.
