The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (Newly Expanded Paperback Edition)

"who can be indoctrinated with evil. Mankind is ostensibly striving to avert catastrophes; medical progress gives us hope that one day disease can be conquered, but will we ever be able to prevent the creation of mass murderers?"-Simon Wiesenthal The Lord loves justice Isaiah 6:18 All people who call themselves christians should read this book because christianity is under attack and for good reason many times. I grew up in the bible belt; you were extremely weird if you didn't go to church and there are churches on every corner practically in this part of the country. Christian Germans, continental europeans had their faiths tried by fire in this last century, it is not so obvious in America, but I believe we are standing at the edge of a cliff in so many ways and we have choices to make and those choices will save or condemn your soul; no matter how many apostles creeds you say, the choices you are making today will determine your salvation or not. This book is probably the best book I've ever read. I love Simon Wiesenthal not just for his books' content but because Simon understood G-d's demands for justice; he then tracked down the Nazi killers who took millions of lives and not only jews. Forgiveness is a hard thing to do but Christ commands christians that if they don't forgive others their sins that G-d can't forgive them. Christ told his followers to pray more than 70 x 7 times until they could truly forgive those who persecuted them. However, in the case Mr. Wiesenthal places before us, the crimes possibly committed by the dying Nazi soldier are much more than what he mentions, but we simply don't know all the details. Simon of course has seen this scene of slaughter so many times, jews rounded up, jews crowded into kerosene laced buildings and set on fire. And then the dying Nazi soldier begs him to stay and hear his confession instead of from a priest. Simon stayed there for hours and though Karl wanted to hear Simon forgive him and though Simon really sensed that Karl was sincere, he simply could not utter the words, but rendered what little comfort he could muster by holding his hand, by swatting away flies from Karl's infected, rotting face, the whole time though wanting to flee. The whole story affected Simon so much for days afterwards he had nightmares and would wake screaming back in the death camp; it greatly alarmed his friends because the Nazis would usually respond to such disturbances by shooting or hanging them. His friends finally silenced his screams by having talks with him about this strange encounter: "it was not your place to forgive him because you were not his immediate victim" and "how could you forgive on the part of the whole jewish nation", "we all will probably not survive this death camp".... All of those friends later died within the camp, from malnutrition, infectious disease, gun shots. Somehow Simon was miraculously spared and he dedicated the rest of his life to bringing to justice the Nazi murderers from some of the remotest, wild corners of the world. What can I say but I place this book on the same pedestal as my bible. Clearly putting away criminals who take the lives of innocent millions and not only jews is just and understood by most cultures. It was stipulated in the books of Moses: for blood pollutes the land and NO atonement can be made for the land except by the blood of him who shed it. Is it not significant that one of the first stories in the bible, in christian, jewish, and even muslim bibles is the story of the killing of Able by Cain and G-d hearing the voice of Able crying from the ground? There are two versions of this book, but I recommend this last version over Wiesenthal's first; the additional perspectives from 53 persons that Wiesenthal posed his question to adds more insight to the problem of forgiveness. All of their answers are slightly different, all equally thought provoking. Most believed Simon behaved rightly in his response to Karl, it was not his place to offer forgiveness because he was not the injured party and Simon acted UBER princely given the circumstances by what little he did and mostly by what he didn't do. "He could have smothered him with a pillow to put Karl out of his misery," one of the respondents noted. He could have choked him if he was consumed by a rage for vengeance, but true to G-d's word left the vengeance part to G-d. 'Vengeance is mine says the Lord, I will repay.' What does G-d promise? Vengeance is mine, I WILL REPAY. G-d is just and cannot tolerate evildoers. Evildoers will be punished if not in this lifetime, surely in the world hereafter. So, herein, you will find responses from the most unlikely of characters, the Dalai Lama, various christian theologians, of course, other jews, some concentration camp survivors, teachers and most surprisingly an answer from Albert Speer, who was the only Nazi to declare his guilt at the Nuremberg trials. My favorite responses were from the Dalai Lama, Harry Wu, Dith Pran and a jewish teacher. The Dalai Lama asked a buddhist monk what did he fear most after years of brutal torture by the chinese; the monk told him that his biggest fear was that he would lose compassion for the Chinese. Dith Pran, a survivor of Pol Pot's murderous rampages saw and understood how the soldiers were duped and deceived by these murderous despots as Hitler youths were manipulated by the Nazis. He wrote: "We need to learn to separate the true culprits from the pawns, the evil masterminds from the brainwashed." The jewish teacher posed Simon's predicament and question to her students who were studying The Sunflower. Nearly all christians said they'd forgive Karl, nearly all jews said that they wouldn't. I think her observation is significant. And as someone who's been raised as a christian and trained in the bible, I think that the jews' thinking/logic on this issue is incredibly wise and worth examining. Harry Wu's experience of nearly 20 years in chinese prison gave him a slightly different perspective: "In regard to Mr. Wisenthal's story and in comparing his story to my own, I must first state that it is inconceivable for me to believe that anyone in the People's Republic of China would ask for such forgiveness as the Nazi soldier did to the jewish prisoner. In China, there was no understanding that what the communists did to their own people was in any way morally wrong....They had no regard for an individual's well-being. There was no value put on a human's life because, quite simply, the leaders of the country placed no value on human life. In order to survive in China during these times, one had to give up one's own conscience and humanity....Instead, the society that the communists founded was designed to drain any remnants of humanity out of a person. Like Mr. Wiesenthal, I would not have forgiven the Nazi soldier, but I would have been able to say to him: "I understand why you were a part of a horrible and vicious society. You are responsible for your own actions but everyone else in this society shares that same responsibility with you."" The only comment I took offense to was one by a christian speaking of Christ and His disciples welcoming Judas Iscariot back into their midst. In the account of John, son of Zebedee, Jesus says about Judas after he left to betray Him for 30 pieces of silver, "it would have been better if he had never been born." In John also, Christ said that His father gave all judgement to Him and so Christ's words to a christian should be more true than other apocryphal writings as "The Judas Gospel". It's so easy for false truths to be believed and lies disseminated. Theologians don't have a clear handle on what the blasphemy of the holy spirit is, what the only sin is that G-d will never forgive, but I have no doubt that it would surely be found in the many evil acts against humanity, against the sanctity of human life that was to be unveiled from these true stories of the holocaust. (Jews prefer the word Shoah rather than the holocaust. Shoah in English means calamity. Holocaust has twisted christian connotations of whole burnt offering as if there was something holy in the jews' sacrifice which I totally agree is extremely abhorrent.) But the world knows of these tribulations as the holocaust so I use that term here. This book is one of the most important books I've ever read. It is so thought provoking and there are really no easy answers to Simon's question. I found myself as I am here, thinking of so many arguments. It is a subject of universal appeal because forgiveness is truely hard when one has been subjected to such uncomparable persecution and suffering. And even christians should grasp that G-d understands our difficulty with this issue, to truely forgive 100% may not even be achieved in one's lifetime and doesn't negate one's salvation (my thoughts). But after the 490 or 4900 time of trying to forgive a heinous crime all one may be able to do is say, I CANNOT DO IT, BUT I HAND IT OVER TO YOU TO ADJUDICATE. And I think G-d probably wouldn't have a problem with it. I have so many pages marked; my hope and prayer is that whoever reads this review will want to read the book themselves. I couldn't find this edition anywhere in the greater Atlanta area, universities included. You can get it through interlibrary loan, but better to have the book on hand as I do. I must temper my criticism of christianity with these thoughts from Dennis Prager: "I am a religious Jew who has come to admire many christians and to appreciate Christianity....I deeply fear the consequences of a de-Christianized America."

You said Mr. Wiesenthal that the sunflowers stood straight as soldiers at attention on the graves of dead Nazis. Butterflies danced above their graves as the sunflowers soaked in the sunshine and brought light and life to the dead below. And this, you saw, you would never have. You, being a Jew, were in the eyes of the Nazi disposable garbage that one threw out on a pile when its usefulness had expired. Garbage doesn't need a proper burial, and you would be accorded no dignity in death. So, what should you have done when the SS soldier on his deathbed wants your forgiveness as a Jew so that he can die in peace? This man who tells you that he and his brutal brethren marched perhaps two hundred Jews, many of whom were small children, onto a truck. He saw in their eyes fear, and recalled their frantic cries when forced into a house that was to be burned down. And this Nazi watched the flames blaze like hell through the house. He tells you he saw a man, a child, a woman jump from the windows their burning bodies flying down. And, he says, he saw the child, "it" had black hair and eyes. It. And now, he bemoans his short life, tells you he was a Catholic, tells you he has a mother who loves him, and in soft tones, in a pleading voice wants your forgiveness. What is forgiveness? Christianity teaches, in the Lord's Prayer, "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." (traditional Matthean version). In Luke 23:34, "And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Can one man forgive another for such a great sin as committed by the Nazi? Mr. Wiesenthal the position that you found yourself in is one which no man could imagine. But was forgiveness an option? Josek, your fellow prisoner and friend, tells you that he feared that you had forgiven the SS man. He said then, "You would have had no right to do this in the name of people who had not authorized you do so. What people have done to you yourself, you can, if you like, forgive and forget. That is your own affair. But it would have been a terrible sin to burden your conscience with other people's sufferings." Josek makes an important point. The dying SS soldier had sinned beyond the limits of human forgiveness. You were in no position to forgive him. You are not God, who is the final arbiter of judgment and redemption. And as Josek said, in the afterlife those who had died at the hands of this Nazi soldier would ask you, had you forgiven him, "Who gave you the right to forgive our murderer?" But, you had countered Josek that the soldier seemed repentant and was in torment. Moreover, as he was dying had no time left to repent or atone for his crimes. Here, Arthur's words are powerful. He, who also suffered and later died at the concentration camp, says to you, "A superman has asked a subhuman to do something which is superhuman. If you had forgiven him, you would never have forgiven yourself all of your life." Consider this, this Nazi if he had not been on his deathbed would have viewed you Mr. Wiesenthal, as less than a piece of excrement. Yet, in the throes of death, he a member of the Super Race, needs you, want you, a Jew-something less than human, to forgive his transgressions. Think of his selfishness. Even in the face of death his evil is still alive. He cloaks himself in a soft and sympathetic voice, grabbing your hand, treating with you with respect. That is how evil works, like a snake charming you as if it is a harmless rabbit. This Nazi should not have been asking for forgiveness. If he in the moments before he met his Maker had a stab of conscience, he the soldier should have said, "I have been nothing but evil, and I deserve every bit of torture in Hell that I am about to receive." That would have been repentance. One of your contemporaries and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl's writes in his book, Man's Search for Meaning, that the meaning of life is found in every moment of living. Frankl states that life never ceases to have meaning even under horrific suffering. Maybe this is what you, Mr. Wiesenthal, were thinking of when you saw the dying man asking for your forgiveness. As Josek had told you "in each person's life there are historic moments which rarely occur-and today you have experienced one such." You were trying to make sense of, that is, form meaning from the surreal moment of being in your old high school, now a Nazi hospital, where you a Jewish prisoner are asked by a dying SS soldier to forgive him. And this is extraordinary. That you held onto your better self, that despite all the humiliation, torture, and deprivations you had suffered at the hands of the Nazis, you were still willing to contemplate forgiving this man. Your heart had the capacity to see him beyond the monster that he was. You saw his soul. Dan Smee Author "Totally American" Totally American: Harnessing the Dynamic Duo of Optimism and Resilience to Achieve Success

I ordered and read this book because my daughter asked me to help her with it for a college project. When I saw it was written by Simon Wiesenthal, I immediately agreed. The course she had to read this for was a psychology class focusing on trauma. As a 2nd generation German-American, her question was, do I feel traumatized by the Holocaust? Did the experience Wiesenthal relates to his readers in the 1st half of the book, cause him both physical and mental trauma? And did he handle it properly? The book is divided into two sections, the first half is Wiesenthal's telling the story of this particular incident. It is very well written and gripping to say the least. The 2nd half of the book is comprised of interviews with approx 50 people from different walks of life, including medical, psychological, military and clergy on their reactions to Wiesenthal's story, and their opinion as to how he handled the situation. While interesting, frankly it became repetitious, and I found myself skim reading many of their responses. Overall, though, it was an important book to read regarding this chapter in WWII.

Keeping this short is hard. The commentaries are great. The conversation and introspection this book brings on is great. Ok, my take. Full disclosure, I am Jewish Sincere repentance - no, only the prospect of having to answer for his crimes before God brings it on. He picks a poor, defenseless, starved, and despairing Jew and uses him as a means to his salvation - not a person,, any Jew would have done. Simon’s courage of not forgiving and getting the hell out of there sad gassy as possible was admirable. Reparations? None- not even an offer to smother him and take his life - close to death as he is it would have been an easy give, dramatic if not really meaningful. And his mother ? Karl should have told Simon to tell her the story! Pain for his loved one for the pain of millions of brutalizes victims. Simon should have been braves and said: “I believe you’re sincere and I forgive you, for what that is worth. The souls of the dead will not be as easy. God will not be as easy. You’re damned. Would that you only found your conscience while strong and repented then, and paid the price for your soul. Now, I wish it were in my hand to damn you or save you - but its not. You will stand and be judged. God is merciful but he is also just. Sometimes “sorry” is just not enough. Sometimes forgiveness is a road full of prices to be paid to make up for the sin. Like here. Sorry Karl. Last word - this collective trauma is why we, the Jews, will never give up our only sanctuary, our land, the one place where we have a fighting chance. Because truly, in every generation somebody comes to get us. Now, come at your own peril. Excuse any stupid typos, typing on my phone while riding on a train.

I was pleased to read this. This book is a favorite of mine, I have given as a gift. Recipients tell me that they are glad to have read it as well. Very worthy

Would you have forgiven him? So many different perspectives that make you think but still might not change your mind.

Summoned to the bedside of a dying Nazi who had willingly participated in the systematic annihilation of Europe's Jews, concentration camp inmate Simon Wiesenthal found himself the captive, solitary witness to this 21-year-old SS man's confession of responsibility for committing acts of unspeakable cruelty. Kurt had asked a nurse to bring him a Jew (any Jew would do); quite by chance the nurse selected Wiesenthal from the work detail assigned to the hospital that day. Against his will, he listened to this man recount his experience of packing a house full of Jewish men, women, and children and then setting the house on fire while lobbing grenades into the inferno and shooting at anyone who had attempted to escape this hell. Kurt watched a father, mother, and small boy leap from a window to their certain death. Before the leap, the father had shielded the child's eyes. The image haunted Kurt, who was unable to fight again. Instead, he froze on the battlefield and suffered and injury that first cost him his sight and then took his life. Before he died, though, he wanted to confess his sins to a Jew that he might be forgiven and die in peace. Wiesenthal, who was about the same age as this soldier, heard him out but refused to forgive. Instead, he offered silence in response to the story and returned to the concentration camp. The experience haunted Wiesenthal; soon after it happened, he discussed it with his friends back at the camp, with a Polish Catholic seminarian. Much later, he presented the story to theologians, political leaders, Holocaust survivors, and victims of other attempted genocides and asked each of these persons what he or she would have done in the same situation. The story itself is first book of The Sunflower; the responses to the question, "The Symposium," are the text of the second book in this volume. Broadly grouped, the respondents are Jews and Christians, primarily. There are two Buddhist respondents and one Chinese respondent who makes no reference to religion though his response is in keeping with Buddhist thinking. Within these broad categories respondents reflect on different facets of the experience Wiesenthal describes and facets of their faith and life experiences and knowledge to make a response. The Jewish respondents point to the fact that only the person against whom a sin has been committed has the right to forgive the sinner. Therefore, Kurt cannot be forgiven; his victims are dead. The Christian respondents point out, first, that they feel they have no right to address the question because they have never been on the receiving end of genocide. Then they point out that God alone can forgive and that it is incumbent on each of us sinners to find forgiveness in our hearts for others. The Buddhists respond, as Buddhists do, in the present tense and with an eye on enlightenment--a release from suffering. Each perspective reflects a different concept of individuality and therefore of the nature of accountability. For this reader, The Sunflower accomplishes the important task of bringing the reader into the concentration camp alongside one of its victims, into the hospital room of the dying SS man, and into the heart of the questions the Holocaust raises about responsibility, accountability, forgiveness, restitution, and grace. These are questions that refuse pat answers and therefore remain alive and active in our minds. Wiesenthal's book challenges our ability to empathize with those who suffer and our ability to think about how and why we believe what we do about ourselves and each other. It is a humble and beautiful tribute to those who suffered and died in the Holocaust. We too can honor their memory by participating in the conversation this book presents.

Our priest referenced this book in a recent sermon about the nature of forgiveness. He piqued my interest, so I bought the book. It begins with a remembrance of an unimaginable tragedy in the author’s life and recounts his continuing uncertainty about whether he should have forgiven an indirect agent of his abuse. It is a most important book on what is entailed in the act of forgiveness, and addresses the act by giving a series of short responses from a variety of people, some well known (the Dali Lama) some not (one of my former colleagues). I am giving it only 3 stars, because there are TOO many voices and their competing clamor drowns out the issue. Each reader should take the unspeakable horror of the author’s original anecdote as an opportunity to examine their soul and arrive at their own conclusion. According to the book, this volume is a revised version. The original book did not include all the many conflicting ideas from others who had no connection to the author’s experience. To me their many responses seemed like an academic attempt at cleverness to the very challenging question the author poses in the first 90 pages. Purchase it and skip the newer responses. Let it challenge you to confront your concept of forgiveness.

I bought this book for a book club, and have read it a second time within a year. The theme of forgiveness is something that merits further exploration, due to its ubiquitous existence in our lives. The experience Wiesenthal recounts is poignant, thought provoking and evokes myriad emotions. The writing is bold, yet the nuances of the tenderest small details are presented in a gentle and careful manner. This deeply personal story is told candidly with grace, examining the challenging notion of forgiveness for extreme actions. It leaves the reader's head and heart full of challenging thoughts and emotions, not shy about tugging at the heartstrings. The second part of the book consists of wonderful essays in response to the book by notable and highly regarded individuals. These essays challenge our own perspectives and sometimes our belief systems. I thoroughly appreciated these thoughtfully presented pieces and the plethora of things I learned while reading them. In all, this is an important book, a great read for a group discussion or book club. The message is essential food for thought. Enjoy!

Beautiful healing book

This is not like any other book I’ve read. The author’s time in the concentration camp is harrowing, his life and the lives of his companions was under constant threat. Every day he lived with the terror he could have been murdered at any moment in an act of random violence. Taken to the bedside of a dying SS soldier and forced to listen to his story of Nazi brutality, the author asks a question, “What would you have done?” when asked to forgive? The question was posed to notable academics, religious leaders, politicians, writers, human rights activists as well as survivors of genocide in the 20th century. Some of the respondents avoid the question completely and pose their own question, some discuss the difference between forgetting and forgiving, others ponder the question of collective guilt. Unsurprisingly, some of the responses are quite predictable. Most contributors assert that Wiesenthal was not in a position to forgive in the name of another victim. I found Dennis Prager’s comments helpful concerning the differences in the Jewish and Christian views to forgiveness of murder. The Jewish tradition was something I was not fully aware of. My own view is that Simon Wiesenthal was not at liberty to forgive the dying SS soldier for crimes not committed against himself. As to forgetting, the answer should be No. Crimes have consequences and the guilty are due the punishment of their actions. Society has the opportunity, indeed, it is incumbent upon righteous government to seek justice for the victim, but this does not exclude the victim offering forgiveness. I agree with a previous reviewer who states ‘forgiveness from the victim, free's him from the burden and poison of hate’. I come to this from a background in evangelical Christianity, but my faith finds its roots in the Hebrew Bible where I read of another who was ‘almost’ murdered by his brothers, sold as a slave in Egypt, lied about by his new employer, thrown into jail, helped his fellow prisoners and was promptly forgotten. Joseph forgive his brothers their sin, but it took twenty-two years. Forgiveness does not come easily or quickly, it can take years. That’s why the title is so appropriate, the limits and possibilities of forgiveness.

While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to--and obtain absolution from--a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing.

Can we possibly forgive everyone and for everything? This book is about answering that. I used to think that one can forgive but not forget. After reading this book, I am now asking myself if forgiveness is all that possible or easy. There are some wrongs that are hard to let go and be pushed aside as if nothing dramatic ever occur. forgiveness is a sensitive topic that needs lots of sensible debates to explain it.