Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: History alive judaism
Simon Wiesenthal’s book The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness spoke to me about the question of forgiveness and repentance. Simon Wiesenthal was a Holocaust prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. He experienced many brutal and uneasy experiences that no human being should experience in their lifetime and bear to live with it. Death, suffering, and despair were common to Simon Wiesenthal that he questioned his own religious faith because he asks why would his God allow the Holocaust happen to his people to be slaughter and not do anything to save them. During Simon Wiesenthal time as a Jewish Holocaust, Simon was invited to a military hospital where a dying Nazi SS officer wanted to have a conversation. The Nazi SS officer told Simon his story of his life and confesses to Simon of his horrific war crimes. Ultimately, the SS officer wanted forgiveness for what he done to Simon’s Jewish people. Simon Wiesenthal could not respond to his request, because he did not know what to do with a war criminal that participate in mass genocide to Simon’s people. Simon Wiesenthal lives throughout his life on asking the same crucial question, “What would I have done?” (Wiesenthal 98). If the readers would be on the exact situation as Simon was
In the symposium section, Abraham Joshua Heschel quoted, “No one can forgive crimes committed against other people. It is therefore preposterous to assume that anybody alive can extend forgiveness for the suffering of any one of the six million people who perished.” (171). Simon Wiesenthal would possibly never forgive the SS officer because he doesn’t represents to those who suffer and died by the SS officers because he is just one jewish person out of many different jews that died. At that point, Simon Wiesenthal does not represent the rest of the jews and other Holocaust
He experiences numerous people being hanged, beaten, and tortured daily which changes the amount of faith and trust that he has in Humanity and God. He sees faithful and courageous people crumble in front of his own eyes before their lives are stolen. Towards the end of the book, Wiesel is in the hospital at the camp for surgery on his leg and the man in the bed next to him says something that is bitterly true, “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people,” (Wiesel 81). Wiesel doesn’t argue with this, which shows that he had lost his faith in humanity, and doesn’t know who to trust. Wiesel is also naive and vulnerable at the beginning of the book. He refuses to touch the food at the ghetto and strongly considers rebelling against the officers at the Concentration camps. At the same time, he is also a strong and fairly well-fed boy who does not grow tired easily. He is shocked that the world is letting these barbarities occur in modern times. Over time, he grows accustomed to the beatings and animal-like treatment that is routine at the camps. “I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked….. Had I changed that much so fast?”
Many made excuses not to perform rituals and eventually lost all faith. Wiesel was weakened, but remained faithful. Akiba Drumer, a friend of Wiesel, tried to convince himself that it was a test by God. However, Akiba also lost faith. “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.”
He should not have forgiven him because, “One soldier got up from the bench and looked at us as if we were animals in a zoo” (Wiesenthal 20). “Rectifying a misdeed is a matter to be settled between the perpetrator and this victim” (Wiesenthal 54). This shows only a small portion of what the Jewish people were treated as during this time. They were treated like animals, yet they are completely human. Also, an approximate eleven million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million were Polish citizens, three million were Polish Jews, and another three million were Polish Christians. A single person who was not affected by the soldiers decisions cannot represent the eleven million people who were affected. In order to achieve actual “forgiveness” he would need to speak to every single person who was
Analysis and explanation of Wiesenthal’s actions When Simon was asked to forgive the SS officer, he blankly looked at the man, stood up, and left. One of the main problems that he faced is he definitely was not able to absolve the man of the crimes considering he could not speak for his entire people. Wiesenthal did not have authority to absolve the actions of those who were responsible for the holocaust nor did he want to in the first place. Different people have different ideologies about the way that one can accept forgiveness. Literature from the Jewish culture has a lot to say about this and understandably so.
In The Sunflower while in a hospital, Simon Wiesenthal was approached by a nurse who leads him to a dying SS soldier named Karl who confessed to Wiesenthal of his heinous acts against Jews, He asked Wiesenthal for his forgiveness. Instead of replying Wiesenthal walked away and later that night the soldier passed away. Through Karl’s confession you could see that he was remorseful for the actions committed through his time as an SS soldier; therefore, Karl should be forgiven.
All the pain and torture the jews had to endure during the holocaust. Wiesel told a young jewish boy about how he tried to keep the memory alive, that he had to Explain THREE specific examples of this transformation from Elie’s experience beginning in Sighet to his liberation at Buchenwald. The jews view of God differed in the holocaust. Some thought there was no way there could be a God since he let the jews suffer through the holocaust. Others thought that God was testing them to see how strong their faith was towards him.
The unimaginable actions from German authorities in the concentration camps of the Holocaust were expected to be tolerated by weak prisoners like Wiesel or death was an alternate. These constant actions from the S.S. officers crushed the identification of who Wiesel really was. When Wiesel’s physical state left, so did his mental state. If a prisoner chose to have a mind of their own and did not follow the S.S. officer’s commands they were written brutally beaten or even in severe cases sentenced to their death. After Wiesel was liberated he looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t even recognize who he was anymore. No prisoner that was a part of the Holocaust could avoid inner and outer turmoil.
“I do not forgive people because I am weak. I forgive them because I am strong enough to understand people mistakes.” (Marilyn Monroe) Simon Wiesenthal was facing a dying Nazi solider who was seeking for forgiveness in his death bed. In the novel, The Sunflower, Simon writes about a situation he confronts in the concentration camp. While arriving at the military hospital to start labor, a nurse approaches Simon and asks him to follow her. When he arrives in the room, he meets Karl, the dying Nazi solider. Karl is asking for forgiveness for the awful crimes he committed while being an SS. He informs Simon he cannot die in peace without being forgiven by a Jew for the awful things he did to the Jewish people. Simon listens to the detailed confession
While reading “The Sunflower,” by Simon Wiesenthal, I had many mixed emotions and reactions to his story as would many other readers. One of the most reoccurring thoughts that I would have is to feel truly sorry for Simon. In Simon’s story, he tells us how he was a randomly picked Jew and heard a dying Nazi soldier named Karl confess his sins to him. After the confession of the soldier, Karl asked Simon for forgiveness for his wrongdoing to the Jews and any other sins he may have had. Simon had forgiven him, but many other Jews seemed to disagree with Simon’s call on whether or not Karl should have received forgiveness. I for one would have forgiven him also. I do realize that I really do not have in a say in this or not, but there are many
The idea of forgiveness resonates differently with every individual. Where do we draw the line in terms of offering up a sincere acceptance of someone’s apology? Are there any acts that we as individuals will absolutely not be able to ever excuse? In the case of Simon Wiesenthal, those questions were brought directly into his life in a way more powerful than many of us will ever experience in our lifetimes. After living through the Holocaust, Wiesenthal was confronted by one of the former SS members and asked to forgive his atrocious acts of violence against innocent Jewish people. His decision is one that Wiesenthal has been seeking validation for ever since it was made.
But, how does one come to a place of forgiveness toward the perpetrator of such anguish? Sittser says unforgiveness “is as ruinous as a plague,” (136). He explores what true forgiveness looks like and what it is not (pp. 132-146), and draws the conclusion, “In the end, I wonder whether it is really possible to forgive wrongdoers if we do not trust God first,” (p.146). When faced with the plague of unforgiveness or the gift of forgiveness, which “in the end brings freedom to the one who gives it” (p. 143), Sittser choses forgiveness, for his sake and that of his children
Second, and more importantly, I have no right to forgive crimes committed against others."(260). Tec also states how Karl was only sorry because he was dying and took self pity. However, when is a better time to reflect on your life, your decisions, and your mistakes than when you're dying? Karl is young: young people make bad choices. Although Karl may have known the error of his ways, he may not have been able to predict the outcomes like Tec claims. As Karl reflects before death, he is aware of the awful consequences following his actions as a S.S soldier . Karl truly winder stands what he did was wrong, he is only trying to make things as close to right as
The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal shares many valuable lessons about life. Along with these lessons it gives the perspective of a holocaust survivor. The main idea throughout the book is the concept of forgiveness. Given that the author, Simon, is a Jew trapped in a German work camp is put in a unique situation when a SS officer asks him for forgiveness. This leads to the moral question of whether he should be given forgiveness for his actions and why this story has been written.
In his book Night Mr. Elie Wiesel shares his experiences about the camps and how cruel all of the Jews were treated in that period. In fact, he describes how he was beaten and neglected by the SS officers in countless occasions. There are very few instances where decent humans are tossed into certain conditions where they are treated unfairly, and cruel. Mr. Wiesel was a victim of the situation many times while he was in the camps. Yet he did not act out, becoming a brute himself, while others were constantly being transformed into brutes themselves. Mr. Wiesel was beaten so dreadfully horrible, however, for his safety, he decided to not do anything about it. There were many more positions where Mr. Wiesel was abused, malnourished, and easily could have abandoned his father but did not.
The essay "Forgiveness," written by June Callwood, explores the concept of forgiving and how it influences people's lives for the better. Her work describes many components of forgiveness, such as how difficult it can be to come to terms with, why it is such a crucial part of humanity, and how it affects all people. Her essay aims to prove that forgiveness is the key to living peacefully and explains specific examples of people who have encountered extremely difficult situations in their lives- all of whom found it within themselves to forgive. To clearly portray this message in her writing, Callwood uses several strategies. She includes fear inducing statistics, makes many references to famous events and leaders, and uses a serious convincing tone, all of which are very effective.