Forgiveness in The Sunflower

Simon Wiesenthal presents the question of forgiveness and this remains the soul of the book. However, he fails to properly define forgiveness. So, the different inferable meanings must be reviewed. Certainly he does not mean to condone the actions of the Nazis. Nor did he mean to forget the wrongdoings of the Germans and absolve them of responsibility for their actions. Rather forgiveness could be viewed as a third person (non-victim) moral response to an injustice. Or should Simon forgive Karl because of the religious belief that forgiveness warrants Simon’s own eternal salvation, regardless of resentments? Many religions teach that forgiveness is an act of benevolence and will result in a better divine judgment. Does Simon have the right to forgive Karl for a massacre of people with whom he has no other connection than

an ethnic history? These are all issues that will have to be evaluated in order to justify forgiveness for Karl.

I must first look at Karl’s motivation for seeking forgiveness. Man generally likes to win. It is beneficial for him. So, when lying in his bed and realizing that he is in on the losing side, he has but one option: switch sides. It is my opinion that Karl begs forgiveness because he is dying. Had he been alive and well, would he ask for the same forgiveness of a random Jew? Primo Levi echoes this in saying that “Everything would lead on to believe that, had it not been for his fear of impending death, he would have behaved quite differently. (192)” He had the entire span of time between the massacre and his being hit by a shell to seek absolution. And, even if he were to seek absolution prior to his injury, would he have been willing to work for forgiveness? His deathbed confession is convenient in that he does not suffer any additional direct consequences for his crimes and seeks absolution only when it would come at relatively no effort on his part.

It is easy to imagine every Nazi in his deathbed wishing to go to heaven should the place exist. So, is it not also as easy to imagine every Nazi wishing for forgiveness upon the ending of his life? As a Nazi lies dying I am sure that he thinks he is somehow excused from the responsibility of the evils of what had been done by the German hate machine and that he deserves forgiveness for his actions.

Would I have forgiven Karl? No. Karl was the perpetrator of an act of violence. He acted of his own free will and did so because it was beneficial to him at the time. I believe that had Karl, on his deathbed, been given the chance to murder 1000 innocent Jews, he would have made his choice not because of his reflection on former sins but rather by what was promised to him. His repentance is false and he seeks Simon’s pardon only because he is dying. If promised health and a fruitful life I am sure that Karl would have pulled the trigger with more enthusiasm then he had that day in Dnepropetrovsk.

At the conclusion of the first half of his work, Wiesenthal asks if I would forgive Karl. In order to answer this I must first examine the points made above regarding forgiveness. If forgiveness is my personal key to eternal salvation, then I willing excuse all those who have need for forgiveness. This assumes that there is a god who exists and is benevolent by nature. I am human, and self-interested. I wo

Some topics in this essay:
Simon Wiesenthal, Dennis Prager, Wager Pascal, Nazis Nor, Primo Levi, Karl Karl, Erich Loewry, European Jew, German Empire, Moses Israel’s, forgive karl, simon wiesenthal, simon forgive, simon forgive karl, forgiveness karl, god exists benevolent, exists benevolent, easy imagine, seek absolution, god exists, beneficial believe, grant forgiveness, easy imagine nazi,