What can one person do when prevention seems out of reach? Document and corroborate; amplify affected voices; donate, accompany, and provide legal or medical support; use institutional channels—ethics offices, unions, courts—when available. Whistleblowing, as Daniel Ellsberg did with the Pentagon Papers (1971), shows that truth-telling can reframe public understanding even at personal cost.
Crucially, refusal starts close to home: decline complicity at work, challenge demeaning jokes, and vote or organize for protections that reduce future harms. As John Lewis urged, make “good trouble” when conscience calls. In that spirit, Wiesel’s mandate endures: when we cannot stop injustice, we can still deny it our silence. [...]
