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The Sunflower Simon Wiesenthal Analysis

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In The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal, we follow his personal experiences in a concentration camp. In his time there, he meets a dying SS officer named Karl who begs him for forgiveness. As his recollection progresses, Simon is posed with a burdening question; should and can he forgive the desperate officer for his heinous crimes? Despite being a Nazi prisoner himself, Simon’s understanding of both the suffering that he had caused as well as the power and benefits of forgiving Karl made the decision a heavily moral one. In the end, though, he decides to make the call to not forgive Karl, walking out of the room after hearing his story. From Simon’s perspective, as well as throughout the Holocaust as a whole, we can see a multitude of instances …show more content…

He would not have been okay with a universal rule of genocide, as joining the Nazi Party meant that he desired the existence and thriving of a superior race. In addition, his actions were a breach of his victims’ autonomy to live. In addition, in the instance his comrades and him killed burning Jews escaping from a house set ablaze, he describes how he “’heard screams and saw the flames eat their way from floor to floor’” and how they “’had [their] rifles ready to shoot down anyone who tried to escape from that blazing hell...’” (Seidl 42). Even though Karl said that he was deeply uncomfortable and traumatized with what had happened, he did not do anything to stop himself or others from partaking in the mass murdering. The issue lies not in whether he had an issue with what he did, but rather the fact that he chose not to do otherwise. His lack of initiative is only more unforgiveable when knowing the consequences of not killing, or more fittingly, the lack of them. According to FacingHistory.org, “Germans were not forced to be killers. Those who refused to participate were given other assignments or transferred. To this day, no one has found an example of a German who was executed for refusing to take part in the

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