Jacobo Timerman: The Conscience of a Nation - Preface

Image, depicting Jacobo Timerman, online via Jewish Currents.

What there was from the start was a great silence,
which appears in every civilized country that
passively accepts violence.  The silence which
can transform any nation into an accomplice.

Jacobo Timerman

When a country's government and military suppress the freedoms of its citizens and kill or imprison anyone who dares to speak out against this violation of human rights, it is called tyranny.  This was the conditions that existed in Argentina during the late 20th century.  

If anyone complained or disagreed with the government's actions, they would be killed, imprisoned, or their friends or families tortured.  Argentine people lived in constant fear and bodies commonly littered their streets. 

Amidst this chaos, one lone man risked his life and the lives of his friends and family to publish a newspaper that critisized the atrocities that he saw occurring in his country. Jacobo Timerman had the courage of his convictions that compelled him to risk everything to tell his people and the world what was happening in the streets of Argentina.

In America, we sometimes take our inherited freedoms for granted; such as the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, or the freedom to peacefully assemble. These freedoms are given to us in the United States Constitution.  This story illustrates what might happen if we were not guaranteed our rights in our democracy.  

Through the eyes of Jacobo Timerman, you will gain a new appreciation for the freedoms Americans enjoy and sometimes don't fully value.