Forgiveness In The Sunflower

The Sunflower is a very interesting story about Simon Wiesenthal and a peculiar interaction with Karl, a dying SS officer while he was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. In his memoir, Simon describes how Karl requested his attending nurse to find “a Jew” as he wanted to confess and at the same time, ask for forgiveness from his crimes against Jews. Karl seemed to have experienced a change of heart and understood his acts were morally wrong. His tale began with his childhood and upbringing. He described how he was raised by a religious mother and how his pastor hoped he would study theology (Wiesenthal, 2010 p.g. 31). Why was this important? Because he wanted Simon to understand he was not born evil, but instead got carried away by the lifestyle and propaganda around him. All he knew about Jews was what “came out of the loud speakers and what was given to him to read” (Wiesenthal, 2010 p.g. 40). …show more content…
It is to be used as a tool to allow the victim to not feel helpless, but to gain control of his/her life. Forgiving someone or a group of people that perpetrated such a horrific crime, does not equal to forgetting the act. To the contrary, it is a reminder the victim has made the perpetrator to acknowledge the crime, and realize the pain he or she inflicted to the victim. The perpetrator can ask for forgiveness multiple times, but until the victim has reach the point where is ready to let go of the “poison” the anger has inflicted on him/her. Simon Wiesenthal, at the time Karl, the dying SS officer, asked him to forgive him for the crimes he committed to other Jews, was not able to grant such forgiveness. He was currently experiencing the harsh treatment from other SS officers, so he was not ready to let go of the suffering he was experiencing. However, I do think after further reflection, once Simon was ready to let go of his pain, he should have been able to grant forgiveness for Karl, even though it was after