The Sunflower by Simon Weisenthal
Simon Weisenthal is a survivor of the Nazi Concentration Camps. After he was liberated he quickly joined forces with those who dedicated their lives to capturing and bringing justice of Nazi war criminals. Many of these are in prison, some were executed, a few were notorious.
Knowing his history, I was surprised to find this haunting book, one that asks one of the most important questions of our life time.
My Purpose
My intent here is to begin a dialogue among us about the meaning and limits of forgiveness. I will tell the story that Weisenthal told to the great people who wrote for his book. I will then ask you to answer the question that he asked all of his corespondents.
This is not meant to be a debate, but a discussion. I thank all who participate.
The Importance of the Sunflower
Simon Weisenthal was an inmate in the Ostbahn Concentration Camp from late in the war. He escaped in October 1943, just before the Nazis began mass exterminations there.The camp contained a hospital for German soldiers. Many of them died as would most of the captive inmates. Weisenthal reported that death wasn't as much the issue as were the sunflowers. Each soldier who died and was buried there, got a sunflower planted over his grave. The inmates knew that they would be buried in a mass grave.
They envied the sunflower. It was a symbol of the humanity that was granted the soldiers, but denied the inmates.
The Request from the Young Nazi to the Jewish Prisoner
One day a nurse came to the bunker and motioned for Weisenthal to come with her. She took him to the bedside of an adolescent Nazi who was dying. Weisenthal had learned the natural wariness of a prisoner in that precarious situation, but was surprised at what happened.The soldier wanted to make a confession and more than that wanted forgiveness from a Jew, any Jew. Weisenthal happened to be that Jew.
The confession was horrific. Nazis had gathers up a couple of hundred Jews and forced them into a tiny two story house. That would have been horrible enough, but then they locked the doors and downstairs windows before they set the house on fire.
A man, woman and boy jumped from a second story window and the young soldier participated in shooting them to death.
He wanted to be forgiven.
Weisenthal's mind raced with so many emotions, but he did nothing and said nothing. He was taken back to the bunk.
Simon Weisenthal:
"I am someone who seeks justice, not revenge..."
Links to Simon Weisenthal's Work
- Simon Weisenthal's Words
- Simon Weisenthal talks about his search for Nazis who committed crimes against humanity.
- The Simon Weisenthal Center
- The official site for the Simon Weisenthal Center.
- 1908-2005
- Simon Weisenthal's Biography
The First Debates
Back at the bunks he told his fellow inmates what had happened and asked them what he should do.If you are not familiar with the Jewish law, it provides that if you harm someone you can only get forgiveness from that person, not anyone else.
Many of the men reminded him of this, few if any suggested that he should have granted the request.
After the War
Early in his career as a Nazi hunter found and visited the home of the mother of the dead soldier. She had no idea who he was and was told merely that he was someone who had known her son.She had lost her husband and only son in the war and her home was a monument to them.
Weisenthal wanted to tell her what a monster her son had been, but also felt some compassion for the lonely old woman.
He ended up repeating what he had done with her son. He said nothing, offering neither comfort nor the truth.
This too haunted him in his life.
Haunted for a Lifetime
Although Simon spent the rest of his life tracking down war criminals and bringing them to justice, something that sometimes lead to their deaths, he was haunted by these events. In the 90's he wrote the story of the Sunflower and then asked many prominent people to answer the questions: Could you, would you, should you grant forgiveness to this young man who had committed such terrible crimes? What Would You Do? Could You Forgive?
Weisenthal asked some of the great people of the 20th century to help him answer that question. There were many different answers.
I am asking you to think about this, feel the emotion and try to answer the question.
Some of you, if not all of you, may be able to answer on both sides.
This is not easy, it is not fun. But I think it is important.
If you feel called to discuss this, I request that you also pass it on to others who many also want to contribute.
I thank you for this.
What Would You Do? Could You Do? Should You Do?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byI Would Have Forgiven Him
I Would Never Have Given the Forgiveness
angela voice says:
my husband is in the british army and we are posted in fallingbostel next to bergen belsen.i am a soul who knows there is a god when i walk round belsen i also know there is evil .As a mother i imagined my children being taken from me starved tortured and killed,No i think the anger would stop me from wanting to forgive but i know god would want me to.I believe the jews , russians ,poles ,all of the people who suffered like no other rightly are entiteled to hate for all time and probably will but i also believe those who genuinely ask for for for forgiveness should be forgiven that is what god asks of us.god bless every soul who the germans killed. forgiveness is not the issue making sure this never happens again is.My husband goes to afghanistan soon,i pray to god he will be ok but also that he helps protect the innocent,he is a good man but war can twist and change that into something he is not.I know good will prevail,It has to without it we are lost.I sat in belsen and god wanted me to forgive and always remember what can happen if we reject him i walked round and felt the pain its in the air then i looked around and felt the LOVE all those stones on top of the memorial and the graves.Forgiveness will take a long time but its what makes us better Germans were walkin round placing flowers on every grave it made me feel better about humanity.I really want to forgive everything in me wants me to forgive god wants me to forgive but if it was my son or daughter then honestly NO never i would ask god to help me but no honestly no if that is wrong i cant help it god bless them all ...angela
Posted November 07, 2009
papawu says:
In this case, I simply do not know. Two wrongs don't make a right, yet the Holocaust was something beyond most human comprehension.Could I have watched my friends and loved ones tortured and murdered and forgive those who perpetrated it? I don't think forgiveness is something I could give, but the utter hatred of them is something I think I could let go of. War is such an ugly and merciless thing, especially when you have genocidal psychopaths leading others to do things they may not even have dreamed of doing under different circumstances.
Posted November 05, 2008
The Sunflowers A Most Worthwhile Read
Thoughts on This Lens Are Appreciated
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Reply
- Dec 29, 2008 @ 9:05 am
- Forgiving someone is the ultimate gift. It cannot be taken lightly or for granted .
Great lens. I need to read The Sunflowers.
LizzyJean
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- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Dec 9, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
- What a wonderful lens!
5* and rolled to Say Something Nice
Lizzy
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- Margo_Arrowsmith Margo_Arrowsmith Nov 16, 2008 @ 10:29 am | in reply to JaguarJulie
- The Dali Lama wrote a section. He talked about a friend of his, a monk, who had been imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese for years. When the Dali Lama asked him, "What was the worst for you" the friend relied, "They almost made me stop loving them". Even the Dali Lama was moved and impressed by him.
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Nov 16, 2008 @ 10:08 am
- Inspirational lens -- growing up I read all the books I could find about the concentration camps and the holocaust. They touched me deeply as an impressionable youth. Hopefully this book will return to print.
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- papawu papawu Nov 5, 2008 @ 1:36 am
- This is still such a disturbing and sensitive subject, even after all these decades. How does one reconcile what they witnessed and experienced. It's such a nightmare, even today.
- Load More
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Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAbout Margo Arrowsmith
Lensmaster Margo_Arrowsmith has been a member since June 21 2008, has rated 2,018 lenses, favorited 121, and has created 129 lenses from scratch. Margo Arrowsmith donates their royalties to Squidoo Charity Fund. This member's top-ranked page is "Heifer International: The Pay It Foward Entrepreneurial Charity". See all my lenses
My Bio
For Arrowsmith Printing 9/22/08
I was born into a small business, I believe that small business and entrepreneurs are the backbone of America and what has made us great. They are what made us great and will save us in these unsure times. I have never wanted to have a great job. Well, better a great one, than a boring dead end one, and I have had both. But I have never really wanted a job at all.
Don't get me wrong, I am a hard worker. I have worked a full-time job, a part time job and a private practice all at the same time for a lot of years in my past. It isn't the work, its the working for someone else. Never wanted to do that, and I don't understand those who want to do that.
When I was six months old my parents bought their first small town weekly newspaper in Iowa. This was back in the day, back when small town newspapers were not just advertising sheets. Perhaps there are still some of them that are real, I hope so.
So I came by this perverse nature naturally. My path to self employment has been different than theirs, but it has always been my path, my direction.
Growing up in Iowa, in the fifties, I also grew up politically conservative. By the time I was 30 I was radically left. Today? I am proudly liberal and what that means will be clearer as we progress.
However, I have had conflicts about 'taking advantage of people'. I now know that employing people is not automatically taking advantage of them, but it took a while for me to learn that nothing is intrinsically good or bad. Well, almost nothing.
I have educated myself in business, I have a small business and I have used EFT and other energy clearing methods to help me clarify the old conflicts and move forward.
My mission here is to provide a forum for people who want to work independently through one person businesses or through employing others and for whom the betterment of human kind is an important value. My lenses are about offering good products, teaching people about betting their lives, and using the money they make for their pleasure and the benefit of others.
That is how I see business and if you have a similar vision I invite you to my blog www.creatingbusinessenergy.com
Margo Arrowsmith
Raleigh, North Carolina
Mother and Grandmother
Clinincal Social Worker, Coach and Internet Marketer
Interfaith Contemplative Minister
Student of life, business, the human spirit that motivates us to be our best in all circumstances.
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