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Title: The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (Newly Expanded Paperback Edition) by Simon Wiesenthal, Simon Wiesenthal ISBN: 0-8052-1060-1 Publisher: Schocken Books Pub. Date: 07 April, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.76 (25 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Strange Request For Forgiveness
Comment: This is a very strange book in many, many ways. A dying S.S. officer asks for 'a Jew' (any Jew concentration camp inmate will do) so that he can ask for forgiveness for killing some other specific Jews in the past while, at the same time, expressing no general guilt for any other crimes he has done as a Nazi Officer. Simon Wiesenthal is picked as that Jew. Mr. Wiesenthal is silent, he walks away after being forced to listen to this confession(?) and this experience troubles him for decades after. I found it strange at first, that he is so troubled. His going to meet the mother of that officer years later I found strange. One may wonder why he formed, with the mother, a complicity to allow this man to be recalled by her as a 'good son'.
Yet, strange is not bad and this book is an excellent book. I found the arguments (from many people) after the story were; enlightening, maddening, brilliant, ridiculous, inspiring, even stupid. In other words they are an excellent display of human reaction and judgement. These reactions form a debate about when and why someone should be forgiven or not forgiven. The question of when a plea for forgiveness is genuine is discussed. Questions are raised about when it is even morally possible to forgive. The reader may walk away ambivalent regarding the conclusions the facts have led to. There is an element of uncertainty. The book causes the reader to think. Even if the reader's initial decision remains from beginning to the last page, there may be elements discussed that make that decision less comfortable after all. And although the soldier's plea remains bizarre, that Mr. Wiesenthal remains troubled becomes understandable.
Rating: 4
Summary: Powerful little novel about the significance of forgiveness.
Comment: I recently picked up this book because I recognized the name of famed nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal. The Jews suffered terribly under Pharaoh during the days of Moses and under Hitler during World War II. The tale of a nazi soldier asking a Jew - enslaved in a concentration camp - to forgive him for his sins is incredible. To ask forgiveness of one person as a representative of his people is quite a believable notion. Haven't US Presidents apologized for slavery, internment camps, etc in the name of the citizens of the United States??
I liked the fact that Simon's conscience bothered him after he left the soldier's bedside once he heard his terrible tale. I enjoyed his philosophical talks with his fellow prisoners as well as the trip he took to the soldier's mothers house after the war. This was a well-written book and it should be required reading in all high schools.
Rating: 3
Summary: What is the problem?
Comment: What is Wiesenthal's problem? Is he afraid that God will be mad at him if he made a mistake in deciding whether to forgive or not forgive this guy; that maybe God won't forgive him if he guessed wrong about the moral high road? What's the big deal? Hold a pillow over the Nazi's nose, hum to yourself "hotzi totzi, one less nazi", and sob as you tell the nurse "he died right in my arms". What's the big deal? Whatever you do, or don't do, Simon, God will probably understand, if only on account of the circumstances (and if He doesn't, hell with Him too!)
Which makes me wonder, WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do? HE, too, was Jewish, you know, so cross-check the Torah for guidance.)
And anyway, where does Wiesenthal get the notion that he could, under any circumstances, forgive anybody for anything (short of an offense against him personally)? True, the Nazi did ask him for forgiveness, but it seems as if Wiesenthal actually considered that granting it was a potential course of action. Who does Wiesenthal think he is? Where does he get such powers? He has no more power to forgive the Nazi than I have. It's not even an option.
Accordingly, this situation does not raise any important moral questions. You, Simon, never had and never will have the power to grant absolution. Get over it.
And, while we're talking about this book, let's not forget all those blowhards with their mindless comments on this "important moral question." The one I liked best was the moron who equates "polluters of the earth" with the Nazis. What a waste of paper, and trees. Albert Speer was at least smarmy enough to thank Wiesenthal for making his own burden of guilt lighter to bear. Good job, Simon.
Finally, and at least one commentator seems to share my suspicions (calling the tale a "fable"), I have to say that I doubt the veracity of the underlying story. It just doesn't ring true. While the situation does present an "interesting challenge", meriting, no doubt, eons of scholarly debate, I just find it hard to believe that it happened quite the way Wiesenthal relates it. I'm sure that something happened. But I'm just not sure how much of Wiesenthal's tale is true and how much is "well, what if it had happened this way?"
Sorry. I hope he'll forgive me if I'm wrong, but others, with much less than genocide on the front burner, have resorted to 'literary license' that borders on fabrication. "Based on true events" might have made me feel more comfortable.
But,what the hell, go ahead and buy the book. It'll give you something to talk about so your friends won't think you're boring.
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Title: Night by Elie Wiesel, Stella Rodway, Francois Mauriac ISBN: 0553272535 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1982 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Survival In Auschwitz by Primo Levi ISBN: 0684826801 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1995 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Race and Ethnicity (Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues on Race and Ethnicity, 4th Ed) by Richard C. Monk ISBN: 0072430850 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.60 |
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Title: Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal File by Alan Levy ISBN: 078671090X Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Auschwitz Explained to My Child (Explained to My Child) by Annette Wieviorka, Peter Hellman, Leah Brumer ISBN: 1569245525 Publisher: Marlowe & Company Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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