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Summary Of The Sunflower By Simon Wiesenthal

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Simon Wiesenthal said, “The schools would fail through their silence, the Church through its forgiveness, and the home through the denial and silence of the parents. The new generation has to hear what the older generation refuses to tell it.” The main purpose for Simon Wiesenthal to tell his story of the Holocaust was to educate others and to prevent similar horrific events from reoccurring. Wiesenthal tells his personal view on how he suffered and questioned his own morals. After years of living in the concentration camps in dire conditions Simon was faced with a difficult situation. A dying Nazi soldier named Karl asked Simon a complex question. Karl finishes talking to Simon by saying “I know that what I am asking is almost too much for …show more content…

Harry worked in a labor camp in China. As a result for speaking out against the meager conditions Harry was sent to prison for 19 years. While in prison he described it as “…often experienced harsh treatment at the hands of guards and prison officials. I was beaten and degraded to this day; Ackershoek 2
I suffer injuries from the abuses that I suffered.” (272) Simon encountered similar situations while at the concentration camp. Harry also described kindness from some guard who helped him. This reminded me of the soldier who gave Simon bread on the train. Harry Wu though it was shocking that the Nazi soldier asked for forgiveness and would not expect anyone from the People’s Republic of China to do something like this. Unlike the Karl many of the Communists had no remorse for their actions. Jesus had a similar experience to Simon’s since they were both persecuted for their beliefs. Jesus was condemned by Pontius Pilate and nailed to the cross …show more content…

Jesus’s experiences of injustice can be related to the Holocaust since they both the discrimination of people with different religious beliefs. Another historical figure who fought injustice was Ghandi. Ghandi fought for independence and freedom for India. Ghandi was concerned for worker’s rights, women’s rights and to stop poverty. For his actions he was put in jail for conspiracy. In 1947 he was assassinated for his involvement in stopping the Hindu-Muslim conflict. Jesus and Ghandi both sacrificed their lives for other and are the ultimate examples of people who encountered injustice but were able to forgive.
If I was in Simon’s place I would struggle to make the right decision. I would feel sympathy for the dying soldier and would want him to die peacefully. But selfishly I would not feel he has the right to be forgiven since I would be angry that he was one of the soldiers who was a part of the heinous crimes on Jewish people that included my family and friends. I don’t think the soldier fully understands how his actions impacted all the other people and for that reason would find it very difficult to forgive him. Ackershoek

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He had asked to speak to a Jew as his last dying wish. Simon did not know why he was there but he could not find himself being able to leave. When Simon first walked into the room he was confused on why he was there. That was when he heard Karl begin to talk, asking him to get closer than talking about wanting to confess to a Jew so he would to be able to “die in peace”(Wiesenthal 27). When Karl began

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Not only does it take courage to confess to wrongdoings, it also takes courage to forgive. The SS soldier, Karl, is not forced to confess to a Jew, he takes it upon himself to try to make things right. The genuineness is palpable as Karl grapples for Wiesenthal's hand in the dark to prevent him from leaving. To Karl, Wiesenthal's forgiveness is the difference between dying peacefully and dying in distress.

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