Letter To Wladyslaw Szpilman
Wladyslaw Szpilman
In the miracle this letter reaches you, I hope that it will find you in good health. In no way it ever make amends for the abhorrent cruelty, unable to be put into words, which you, your friends, your family and race endured over the past two decades. This is not a means to seek redemption from you. But I hope, perhaps, that it can explain certain parts of the frightful mess my life has been. It is filled with regret from actions I did not take and, in this state, I will carry this remorse to my grave.
I have been held captive in a Soviet Prisoner of War camp, taken by the Red Army, for over 7 years now. I can still remember every detail of the war as if it were yesterday. As Hauptmann in my division of officers, I played an integral part …show more content…
I have been tortured, I am in such ill health that each day I manage to complete amazes me. But before my last day here, I wanted to write to you and
I have no right to mercy or compassion.
I always believed that we should see the human in front of us. This is what I lived by, and simultaneously what got me into many treacherous cases in my unit.
Though it has been over five years now, the delay of this letter is in no way a lapse of memory. I often recall that dark, haughty attic in which I found you. You were on the brink of survival- like I am now. It was a significant moment in my life as I was placed in a position of either allowing the light or the darkness govern how I chose to act. However, I have always believed that we should see the human in front of us. And I decided right there and then that I would do everything, with the guidance of God up above, to help you survive to the end of this war. How I wish now, even in my state of vulnerability and shamefulness as a former nazi soldier, that I had done something sooner, something more.
I wish you a life filled with happiness. For you, Wladyslaw, deserve every last bit of it.
William
In the miracle this letter reaches you, I hope that it will find you in good health. In no way it ever make amends for the abhorrent cruelty, unable to be put into words, which you, your friends, your family and race endured over the past two decades. This is not a means to seek redemption from you. But I hope, perhaps, that it can explain certain parts of the frightful mess my life has been. It is filled with regret from actions I did not take and, in this state, I will carry this remorse to my grave.
I have been held captive in a Soviet Prisoner of War camp, taken by the Red Army, for over 7 years now. I can still remember every detail of the war as if it were yesterday. As Hauptmann in my division of officers, I played an integral part …show more content…
I have been tortured, I am in such ill health that each day I manage to complete amazes me. But before my last day here, I wanted to write to you and
I have no right to mercy or compassion.
I always believed that we should see the human in front of us. This is what I lived by, and simultaneously what got me into many treacherous cases in my unit.
Though it has been over five years now, the delay of this letter is in no way a lapse of memory. I often recall that dark, haughty attic in which I found you. You were on the brink of survival- like I am now. It was a significant moment in my life as I was placed in a position of either allowing the light or the darkness govern how I chose to act. However, I have always believed that we should see the human in front of us. And I decided right there and then that I would do everything, with the guidance of God up above, to help you survive to the end of this war. How I wish now, even in my state of vulnerability and shamefulness as a former nazi soldier, that I had done something sooner, something more.
I wish you a life filled with happiness. For you, Wladyslaw, deserve every last bit of it.
William