The story of The Sunflower, mostly takes place while Wiesenthal is in Janwska concentration camp. Wiesenthal worked on the Eastern Railroad, however, as this story begins his service on the railroad is no longer needed. The Jews are put on a new assignment at Technical High School, which was converted into a reserved hospital. Wiesenthal and his friend Arthur had gone to school there, now here imprisoned together. Once at the hospital, a nurse asks Wiesenthal if he is a Jew, which by his apparent state he is, then she leads him to an office. It was the Dean’s office; however, there was no Dean here, but a dying man on a hospital bed. The nurse does not remain amongst them. The dying man’s face was wrapped with bandages, except for his eyes and mouth.
The man spoke, his name was Karl, he was only twenty-two years old, and was part of the SS. He knew he was dying and he wanted to confess to a crime he had committed to a Jew (Wiesenthal, 1998). Wiesenthal does not call him by his name in the book when he speaks or thinks of him; however, for the purpose of this book review his birth name will be used. He had grown up in a religious household, however, when he joined Hitler’s Youth that was the end of the significance of the church for Karl. His parents never accepted his decision, but dared not to speak against it. Karl spent much of their time
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52). Wiesenthal believed the dying man to be remorseful; however, the question then becomes what did he believe the Jews were guilty of? Could a man who voluntarily joined the SS respectfully stand for something he did not believe or know much about? The dying man on his deathbed had once again reconnected to his childhood faith as Wiesenthal listens to his confession as Bolek an imprisoned priest had said to Wiesenthal (Wiesenthal,