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The Sunflower

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The Sunflower
In The Sunflower, the main character Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor, was faced with the situation in which Karl, a Nazi was asking for his forgiveness. Wiesenthal denied him. I am not a Jew, and I also did not endure the pain of the Holocaust. I believe it is a tough situation to think about and to respond to right then and there. I never will be fully able to understand what it would feel like to be in that situation, but if I were, these are my reasons for my choice not to forgive Karl as well.
Karl made his own choices. He voluntarily joined the S.S. to become a part of the army. He was the one who decided to shoot the family that jumped out of the window, even though he didn’t have to. He was ordered, but who really would have known if he shot at the ground and missed or if he shot at the sky? Who would have known if he didn’t shoot at all? Karl makes himself seem like he is not a bad guy, but in reality he is. Just because he comes from a Christian family and household does not mean he will always be good. It was Karl’s choice to join the S.S. and to shoot at the Jews. Now Karl faces consequences for his choices. Being in Wiesenthal’s place, I would have said to Karl, “Having honesty, integrity, and keeping humanity in the world would be much greater than taking orders from a trashy leader.”
Why should someone have to forgive him? He didn’t even do anything to try and atone for his wrong doings. Even though Wiesenthal was not burned alive, shot dead or any other heinous acts in the concentration camps, he was still a witness to these acts. Allen Berger states, “I may forgive one who has sinned against me. I may not forgive one who has taken the life of another.” I believe that Wiesenthal and I will not forgive Karl because he took the lives of innocent others, for no reason. Karl’s request was just to bring a Jew to him, any Jew. Karl didn’t know anything about Wiesenthal. He didn’t ask for his name or his age. All he wanted to know was if
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