The Sunflower
Simon Wiesenthal

I have been reading a new book lately. It is called The Sunflower. It is a book centered on forgiveness and social responsibility involving forgiveness. The book is written by a Jewish man that was in a concentration camp in Poland during WW2. The story is about him being brought to a dying Nazi SS troop in a hospital. The Nazi starts telling him all of the horrible things he has done toward the Jews. In the end, he says that he does not want to die with the burden of his sins and asks the Jewish man to forgive him. He thinks about it and then turns and leaves without saying a word.

He is then struck with the thought that he did not make the right choice. The man dies without being forgiven. The author then leaves the question: "What would you do in my situation?" for us to answer.

There is an interesting dilema created by this question. Did the Jewish man, even if he wanted to, have the right to forgive the man. Since the Nazi did not harm the Jewish man personally, could the author forgive him on account for his whole subculture (Jews)?

The book has the narrative of the author in the first half of the book and then a series of essays written by 5o+ people of different religions, occupations, eras and social circles answer to that previous question stated by him. I have been struck by some of the responses and highly recommend reading this book. One quote that especially struck me was the following:

"My own thoughts are firm. Simon should, and could, not forgive on behalf of those so cruelly murdered. Further, in asking for a Jew to hear his confession Karl perpetuated the Nazi stereotype. Jews were not individuals with souls, feelings, aspirations, and emotions. Rather, they were percieved as an amorphous, undifferentiated mass. Bring me a Jew, was the dying Nazi's request. Any Jew will do. Karl has learned nothing. His desire is to "cleanse" his soul at the expense of the Jew." (Wiesenthal 119)

Great book. Makes you think and definitely challenges your notions on the act of forgiveness.