Must one forget before one can forgive? Forgiveness involves not holding a sin against a person any longer, but forgiveness is a decision of the will. Since we cannot selectively remove events from our memory, it is impossible to truly forget sins that have been committed against us. Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor, in his book The Sunflower, writes of an experience that occurred when he was a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. He recounts a day when he was taken from work and lead to the bedside of a dying man. The dying man Karl, a member of the SS, confessed to Simon about his dreadful act for he sought absolution from a Jew. As Karl begs for Wiesenthal to forgive him, Wiesenthal remained silent and walked away. Wiesenthal’s purpose is to argue whether the inhumane acts of the SS should be forgiven. Because …show more content…
Karl disregarded any of his parent’s feelings on the subject; consequently, his father was afraid to speak in his presence. In this case, it resulted in the end of his church services and any relationship with his father. Wiesenthal states, “But it turned out differently; I joined the Hitler Youth, and that of course was the end of the Church for me” (Wiesenthal 31). Based on this evidence, one can conclude that Karl’s dedication to the Hitler Youth was far greater than his beliefs in God. In addition, Karl showed no remorse for defying his parents and continued to alienate himself from his father, first when he joined the Hitler Youth and later when he joined the SS. Wiesenthal states, “When the war broke out I volunteered, naturally in the SS” (Wiesenthal 32). This quotation shows that since he enthusiastically volunteered, Karl is a supporter of the murderous association of killers, known as the Youth League of the National Socialist Workers ' Party. For that matter, the fact that Karl had no moral courage makes him a murderer despite his Catholic
The author of my essay is Simon Balic and he is a historian and culturologist. The title of the work is, Sunflower Symposium (109-111). Balic wrote this essay thirty years after The Sunflower was written. Balic argues that he does not forgive the sufferer, although he does feel some remorse. The author supports and develops the thesis in a chronological order in order to take the reader through exactly what was seen, heard, and thought of during this time. Both Weisenthal and Balic had a liable reason to not forgive the soldier, “There are crimes whose enormity cannot be measured. Rectifying a misdeed is a matter to be settled between the perpetrator and the victim” (Wiesenthal 54). Through this, Balic was trying to speak to his audience of fellow historians.
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 Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower, he recounts his incidence of meeting a dying Nazi soldier who tells Simon that he was responsible for the death of his family. Upon telling Simon the details, Karl asks for his forgiveness for what he helped accomplish. Simon leaves Karl without giving him an answer. This paper will argue that, even though Karl admits to killing Simon’s family in the house, Simon is morally forbidden to forgive Karl because Karl does not seem to show genuine remorse for his committed crime and it is not up to Simon to be able to forgive Karl for his sins. This stand will be supported by the meaning of forgiveness, evidence from the memoir, quotes from the published responses to Simon’s moral question, and arguments from Thomas Brudholm, Charles Griswold, and Trudy Govier. The possibly raised objection, for this particular modified situation, of forgiveness being necessary to move on from Desmond Tutu will be countered with the logic of needing to eventually find an end somewhere.
“Yes. I see them plain before my eyes…I can see the child and his father and his mother(Wiesenthal,47).” This heinous act committed by the soldiers Karl served with seemed to haunt him on his death bed. The memory of the families and the cries of innocents burning in that home seems to be one of the main things Karl is asking for forgiveness for. The memories seem to haunt him and before he dies he wants to make peace with the ghost of his life, not wanting to bring them into the afterlife with him. The memories of that event have weighed heavily on Karl’s conscious, and it seems if there were such things as a double take in life he would go back and find a way to help those innocents. Karl has a lot of deaths on his conscious not from acts he committed; however, from acts seen by him or acts that he did not stop. By asking for forgiveness from Wiesenthal Karl wanted to die knowing someone knew he was truly sorry for his actions and was willing to pay for them in the afterlife. Even though Wiesenthal was not a Jew whose Karl’s actions affected, his apology was for the community as an SS
Who was Elie Wiesel? Elie Wiesel is a famous Holocaust survivor, a political activist, professor, and a novelist. He is the recipient of many different accomplishments and achievements throughout his life. He is most known for his novel Night, which is about his survival during the Holocaust.
Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams into dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself has. Never. (9) These are the words of the acclaimed writer Elie Wiesel. From this simple passage, the reader enters the author's mind and begins their quest for an understanding of the Holocaust; its horrors, secrets, and impacts.
In the “American Holocaust” by David Stannard, Stannard points out how the Spaniards, British, and Americans were treating the indigenous people differently. In chapter 1 of the “American Holocaust,” Stannard talks about how the Europeans main goal was to find and acquire gold. When the Europeans began to arrive in America they began to discover a land that contained a variety of gold. Once they discovered that there was gold they began to establish and did not see the indigenous people as part of the land. Indigenous people were required to work in forced labor and take care of the land however they were not part of the land and did not have their own property, towns and villages. In the first chapter of the American Holocaust Stannard
“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
In particular, he addresses questions he has about limits and opportunities for forgiveness. In the beginning of the book Wiesenthal tells his encounter with an SS officer who was dying. This dying man’s request was that Wiesenthal forgive him for the crime he had previously committed against the Jews. This SS trooper had participated in the mass killing of the Jewish people. When the Jews had been trapped inside a burning building their vain attempts of escaping were met by the SS officers’ harsh brute rejection. The Nazi soldiers shot and killed each Jew that managed to escape the burning building. The SS officer requested for the nurse to bring a Jew to him. Wiesenthal was on a labor brigade at a hospital when he met Karl. Karl was deathly wounded and was being tormented by his conscious. He thought that absolution could be received from another Jew. Wiesenthal was not able to bring himself to grant the dying SS troopers request, because he felt it was not his place to do so. Even though he left the dying man’s...
How is Peter Van Pels an example of survival during the Holocaust? How does he show survival? Between five to six million jews died during the Holocaust. In the Holocaust, Peter is an example of survival because he survived many things like the selection, when he had to join the so-called “death march”, and when Mouschi got lost.
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.
Holocaust Hero: A One of a Kind Man. What is a hero? A hero can be classified as a number of things. A hero can be a person who, in the opinions of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal.
FDR and the Holocaust by Verne W. Newton provides a basis for scholarly discourse for the Hyde Park Conference of 1993. The book includes essays, articles, and chapters from different scholars specializing in the Holocaust and Roosevelt in which they examine FDR’s response to the Holocaust. The first chapter of the book is a summary of the participants’ remarks of the “Policies and Responses of the American Government towards the Holocaust,” which was prepared by rapporteur J. Garry Clifford. The objective of the conference was to determine through discussion whether or not the controversy over the Roosevelt administration’s response to the Holocaust was correct. Following this chapter, the first section of the book is filled with essays, articles, and chapters submitted by participants at the conference. The second section of the book includes papers by historians who were not participants at the conference, but whose contributions are relevant to the issues discussed. The articles written by the scholars throughout the book look at the policies between 1933 and 1942, addressing the critiques of FDR and his failure to stop the genocide of the Jewish community in Germany. The overall book not only looks at the rescue efforts during the war and the possibilities for future research and analysis, but also supplies a definitive resource for a pivotal time in United States history.
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.
The act of forgiving a murder is out of the question for most people. Simon is confronted with this very dilemma in The Sunflower. Karl, a dying Nazi, is asking forgiveness from a Jew, the narrator. The narrator leaves the dying Nazi with no answer, leaving him with an agonizing thought of whether he did or did not do the right thing. Due to the fact both Karl and the narrator’s psychological well-being is affected by not only wartime but other extenuating factors, the narrator should grant Karl forgiveness, as this dying man is an individual who is genuinely repenting for the crimes he has committed. Forgiveness will allow Karl to die with piece of mind while the narrator will continue life with a stable and clear conscience.