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Essays about forgiveness
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. Simon Wiesenthal
Essays about forgiveness
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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. Simon Wiesenthal was in what we would consider the prime of his life …show more content…
This is a profound moral question that challenges the conscience of the reader of this episode, just as much as it once challenged my heart and mind. There are those who can appreciate my dilemma, and so endorse my attitude, and there are others who will be ready to condemn me for refusing to ease the last moment of a repentant murderer. (Wiesenthal 12)
This right here is the central dilemma that is proposed to the reader of the novel. Should he have really forgiven the man who committed so many crimes against his people? As it should be expected, the opinions of the people who responded to his request for answers differed greatly. Some believed that he should have forgiven the man, others believed that forgiveness is only to be granted by God, and there were some respondents who completely agreed with Wiesenthal’s decision to condemn the man in the
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In most cases when you’re being asked for forgiveness it’s for something that is relatively small in comparison to what Wiesenthal had to go through with being directly affected by the Holocaust. However, what should you do if you’re faced with something on that scale? Is it even possible to forgive someone who seems to only be apologizing because he’s on his death bed? I would find it very hard to do what both the Dalai Lama and Kushner are suggesting. Even if I was in Wiesenthal’s shoes and someone like Seidl had lived a long life filled with regret I don’t know that I would be able to truly forgive them for committing such atrocities. So forgiveness for me wouldn’t be possible unless they were forced into doing something that they were fundamentally against, which, in the case of Seidl, he wasn’t. After hearing about how he went into the effort with so much gusto, that’s where the line would be drawn. Much the same as Wiesenthal, I would have just walked away. There would be no forgiveness from me, and certainly no
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.
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.
In Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower on the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness the author is asked to fulfill a dying solider last wish to forgive him because of the crimes he has committed against the Jewish people of the Holocaust. When Wiesenthal is asked for forgiveness, he simply leaves the room. Wiesenthal states that the encounter with the dying man left “a heavy burden” (Wiesenthal 55) on him. The confessions in which he admitted to have “profoundly disturbed [him]” (Wiesenthal 55). As Wiesenthal tries to make sense of what he has encountered he begins to make excuses for why the man might have done what he did. He say...
“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
The Sunflower is about Simon Wiesenthal and his time as prisoner of the Nazis concentration camps during World War II. Simon Wiesenthal is also known as a Nazi hunter tracking down war criminals after the war. The setting of the book takes place in a concentration camp in Poland, where Simon was living prior to the war. One day he and other prisoners were moved into a work detail to collect medical waste from a german hospital in which it was Simons old high school. While working, Simon was pulled away by a nurse who took him to a dying man who was covered in bandages on his face. The mans name was Karl, a 21-year-old German soldier of the SS. Karl explained to Simon that he had requested the nurse for a Jew. Karl wanted to tell his story to
The African slaves history spans nearly every culture, nationality, and religion in both Western countries and Africa countries from the ancient times to the present day. Considerately, the social, economic and legal position that slaves had was vastly different in various systems of slavery in the different periods and places, especially around the 18th century. When making a trace of slavery, records show that it can be traced back to 1760 BC. African slavery was known in civilizations as 'old summer ' as well as almost other ancient civilizations. Slavery becomes familiar within the Western nations during the middle ages . Britain, for instance, played a prominent role in the Atlantic slave trade more so in 1800. African slavery
Holocaust Survivor, Simon Wiesenthal says, “Today the world demands that we forgive and forget the heinous crimes committed against us. It urges that we draw a line, and close the account as if nothing had ever happened” (Wiesenthal 97). However, they can forgive whenever they like but they can't never forget what happened to. Simon later second-guessed himself on not forgiving Karl, a Nazi. He had a choice and he picked not to forgive Karl, but he was not sure if that was the right thing to do. Simon had to ask others in the camps if that was the right decision. Wiesenthal was hard on himself weather to forgive Karl. Then he had to go ask other Jews and he even went to talk to his mom. But how do they know now what Wiesenthal feel because he didn't even know himself. Wiesenthal states, “Forgetting is something that time alone takes care of, but forgiveness is an act of volition and only the sufferer is qualified to make a decision” (Wiesenthal 97-98). On the other hand, how can he not forget something so bad like the Holocaust and forgiving would help him. It would not make him sufferer. Eva Kor forgave, and she probably would never forget what happened to her. She was healed and weight came off her shoulders after she forgive the
The position to choose between forgiving one’s evil oppressor and letting him die in unrest is unlike any other. The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal explores the possibilities and limitations of forgiveness through the story of one Jew in Nazi Germany. In the book, Wiesenthal details his life in the concentration camp, and the particular circumstance in which a dying Nazi asks him for forgiveness for all the heinous acts committed against Jews while under the Nazi regime. Wiesenthal responds to this request by leaving the room without giving forgiveness. The story closes with Wiesenthal posing the question, “What would you have done?” Had I been put in the position that Wiesenthal was in, I would ultimately choose to forgive the Nazi on the basis
Slavery in America began in 1619 when a Dutch ship, the White Lion, brought over 20 African slaves to Jamestown, Virginia. People felt that slaves were a better source of labor than the indentured servants, which was also cheaper. It is estimated that just in the 18th century, six to seven million more slaves were imported. Black slaves mainly worked on tobacco, indigo, and rice plantations during the 17th and 18th centuries. They had no rights, no say in where they lived, and could hold no representation in government. After the American Revolution (1775-1783), many colonists, mostly up North, called for the abolishment of slavery. Then the U.S. Constitution stated that each slave counted as three-fifths of a person. This
Slavery existed in the English colonies of mainland North America soon after they were established. In fact, the first African slaves in the colonies arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, twelve years after the settlement was founded and a year before the Mayflower arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts. But it did not take root in the first few decades, with just over a thousand Africans in the colonies by 1650. Between then and 1720, though, slavery underwent a period of rapid growth and soon became a critical part in the economies of the southern colonies. The growth of slavery in the colonial South was brought about by geographic, economic, and social factors.
One day, Simon Wiesenthal was called to the side of an SS member in his deathbed. Fully knowing that he was the reason of the death of eighty-nine of Simon’s relative, the SS man, Karl, “wanted Simon to somehow relieve him of his guilt” (Fox 144). There is a large dichotomy here: a man guilty of the most inhuman of acts is following a human algorithm for repentance; specifically, Karl, a lapsed Catholic, is only attempting to undergo penance like all Catholics. If one is to consider the savage man’s shoes, one would realize that he only received orders - he followed an algorithm, followed rules without emotion; it was this mindless following that was his soul’s downfall. When he was ordered to these “acts of hatred and sadism and antisemitism” (144), his mind and heart were at each other’s throats - there was cognitive dissonance; yet, he chose to follow his mind and keep his heart silent, his morals silent, his ethics silent. Specifically, he stayed silent for reconciliation, but now seeks another kind of reconciliation. Wiesenthal, when invited into this hospital for the man’s penance, “gave Karl the only penance available to him to bestow: Silence” (144). It was a trade: silence for silence - Karl was ignorant to expect more than that. As Berish was ignorant to expect God to reconcile for his “crimes,” Karl was ignorant to expect Wiesenthal to hand him full forgiveness. Clearly, the
Slavery began when the Dutch introduced the first captured Africans and brought them to America, slowly creating a slavery system that evolved into a nightmare of abuse and cruelty that would create split between the nation.
...anting to forgive the German war criminals, (Hanna), but being unable to openly because it would appear to condone the actions. He speaks of something being so horrific that the mind can become numb to it. What would his approach to Hanna have been if he had not been involved with her emotionally? The questions keep coming, with no easy answers. Michael tries to atone for his betrayal of Hanna by reading books to her on cassette, then sending them to her in prison. Hanna learns to read and gains understanding of the Holocaust. She tries to atone for her involvement by leaving her earnings to a survivor and after she dies, Michael attempts to carry out her will. The survivor refuses the money, and sends Michael on his way with no sympathy. This book leaves many of us quietly asking ourselves, ?What would I have done??. It also demands to be read again.