The Sunflower - Response
“We have no right to put Jewish survivors in the impossible moral position of offering forgiveness, implicitly, in the name of the six million.
Placing a Jew in this anguished position further victimizes him or her. This, in my reading, was the final sin of the dying Nazi."
(Eugene J. Fisher)
A Nazi officer is asking to be forgiven by a Jew in the name of all Jews whose public execution was the cornerstone of everything he pledged himself to believe when he became a Nazi. He is asking for private forgiveness, not from the person he has harmed, but in the name of others. This is essentially the central theme of the book ‘The Sunflower’ by Simon Wiesenthal – the Jewish man who was asked for forgiveness by a dying Nazi murderer named Karl on his deathbed, and left readers of all creeds, nationalities, religions and backgrounds all around the world with the burning, thought provoking question: ‘what would I have done?’
The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as ‘to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt.’ However, many philosophers, academics and religious leaders alike, agree that there is more to forgiveness than simply pardoning a person for the acts which they have committed. As Harold Kushner observed, “Forgiving happens inside of us. It represents a letting go of the sense of grievance, and perhaps most importantly (sic) a letting go of the role of victim.” Therefore, if one were to oversimplify ‘true forgiveness,’ ‘true forgiveness’ must encompass two things. Firstly, ‘true forgiveness’ must ‘grant free pardon and give up all claim on account of an offense.’ In other words, ‘true forgiveness,’ must fully absolve the acts of another and thereby relieve a large portion of the guilt and remorse that the person seeking forgiveness feels. Secondly, forgiving another must relieve the personal and internal pain and anguish that the person seeking forgiveness has caused. While we can never forget the acts that the
Placing a Jew in this anguished position further victimizes him or her. This, in my reading, was the final sin of the dying Nazi."
(Eugene J. Fisher)
A Nazi officer is asking to be forgiven by a Jew in the name of all Jews whose public execution was the cornerstone of everything he pledged himself to believe when he became a Nazi. He is asking for private forgiveness, not from the person he has harmed, but in the name of others. This is essentially the central theme of the book ‘The Sunflower’ by Simon Wiesenthal – the Jewish man who was asked for forgiveness by a dying Nazi murderer named Karl on his deathbed, and left readers of all creeds, nationalities, religions and backgrounds all around the world with the burning, thought provoking question: ‘what would I have done?’
The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as ‘to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offense or debt.’ However, many philosophers, academics and religious leaders alike, agree that there is more to forgiveness than simply pardoning a person for the acts which they have committed. As Harold Kushner observed, “Forgiving happens inside of us. It represents a letting go of the sense of grievance, and perhaps most importantly (sic) a letting go of the role of victim.” Therefore, if one were to oversimplify ‘true forgiveness,’ ‘true forgiveness’ must encompass two things. Firstly, ‘true forgiveness’ must ‘grant free pardon and give up all claim on account of an offense.’ In other words, ‘true forgiveness,’ must fully absolve the acts of another and thereby relieve a large portion of the guilt and remorse that the person seeking forgiveness feels. Secondly, forgiving another must relieve the personal and internal pain and anguish that the person seeking forgiveness has caused. While we can never forget the acts that the