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The Sunflower

by Simon Wiesenthal

Other authors: Sven Alkalaj (Contributor), Jean Améry (Contributor), Smail Balic (Contributor), Moshe Bejski (Contributor), Alan L. Berger (Contributor)50 more, Robert McAfee Brown (Contributor), Harry James Cargas (Editor), Harry James Cargas (Contributor), Robert Coles (Contributor), Dalai Lama (Contributor), Bonny V. Fetterman (Editor), Eugene J. Fisher (Contributor), Edward H. Flannery (Contributor), Eva Fleischner (Contributor), Martthew Fox (Contributor), Rebecca Goldstein (Contributor), Mary Gordon (Contributor), Mark Goulden (Contributor), Hans Habe (Contributor), Yossi Klein Halevi (Contributor), Arthur Hertzberg (Contributor), Theodore M. Hesburgh (Contributor), Abraham Joshua Heschel (Contributor), Susannah Heschel (Contributor), Jose Hobday (Contributor), Christopher Hollis (Contributor), Rodger Kamenetz (Contributor), Cardinal Franz König (Contributor), Harold S. Kushner (Contributor), Lawrence L. Langer (Contributor), Primo Levi (Contributor), Deborah E. Lipstadt (Contributor), Franklin H. Littell (Contributor), Hubert G. Locke (Contributor), Erich H. Loewy (Contributor), Herbert Marcuse (Contributor), Martin E. Marty (Contributor), Cynthia Ozick (Contributor), John T. Pawlikowski (Contributor), Dennis Prager (Contributor), Dith Pran (Contributor), Terence Prittie (Contributor), Matthieu Ricard (Contributor), Joshua Rubenstein (Contributor), Sidney Shachnow (Contributor), Dorothee Soelle (Contributor), Albert Speer (Contributor), Manès Sperber (Contributor), André Stein (Contributor), Nechama Tec (Contributor), Joseph Telushkin (Contributor), Tzvetan Todorov (Contributor), Desmond Tutu (Contributor), Arthur Waskow (Contributor), Harry Wu (Contributor)

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,1292217,554 (4.1)6
A group of philosophers, critics, and writers weigh the moral issues involved in a young Jews' response to a dying Nazi's confession of mass murder.
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» See also 6 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 22 (next | show all)
excellent.
biographical of Wiesenthal's experience in the concentration camp. on a job near a hospital, he is selected to go with a nurse to meet a patient. patient is completely wrapped up, only two holes for the eyes. he is an SS. he speaks to Wiesenthal, telling him about an atrocity against jews that he was involved in. Before he dies, he wants forgiveness from a Jew before he dies.. he says he was a good Christian and regrets what he has done. Wiesenthal leaves the room without giving his forgiveness. He felt that he is not one to give it. he is haunted by his decision.
after the war he visits the SS's mother, and doesn't end up telling her the truth about her son.
the question is whether can one forgive the nazi's for their atrocities .
After the book, different journalists, thinkers, theologian...write their thoughts. ( )
  evatkaplan | Nov 12, 2023 |
Very deeply thought provoking
  JimandMary69 | Sep 1, 2023 |
Fran Lebowitz said that Jews believe in revenge, because the Jewish God is an avenging God. On the other hand, forgiveness is a central pillar in Christian theology. Christ died on the cross to cleanse the sin of the world, and in the process forgave his tormentors.

These contrasting views of forgiveness are elucidated by the responses in the symposium - the Jewish thinkers tend to take a harsher view of the SS soldier's confession and hope for absolution, while the Christian thinkers tend to err on the side of forgiveness as an absolute moral obligation.

The conversation leads one to see the Christian view as naive - is it possible that the ethos of forgiveness permits the continuation of horrors? Do people feel free in their sin because they know that forgiveness and salvation are ultimately available to all, even the perpetrators of genocide? Whereas Jews more readily acknowledge and live with the consequences of their actions? The fact that Simon Wiesenthal wrestled with this question of forgiveness shows that he does not embrace simple-minded theological dogma in response to complex moral questions. ( )
  jonbrammer | Jul 1, 2023 |
The author describes a moral dilemma in which a Nazi SS agent asks for forgiveness from a Jew for his murderous acts as the German is dying. The author, a Jew, is perplexed by the question of whether he should have or appropriately could have forgiven the murderer. I actually find the discussion pointless. The request is meaningless and inappropriate. Surely we have more valuable things to do than to debate this issue. ( )
  GlennBell | Jan 10, 2019 |
A thought provoking read indeed. I tried to look at this from two perspectives. As an outsider (which I most certainly am) with a knowledge only of the history of the sheer terror, misery, depravity and barbarism that the Jewish people endured (along with many other targeted groups I must add) and then also by trying to put myself in the shoes of the victims. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what those who murdered, tortured, starved, brutalised and humiliated , must have felt and therefore I couldn't and wouldn't begin to presume that I could forgive had I been in their shoes. As the outsider, I would like to think that I could forgive, mainly for my own peace of mind and to let go rather than any altruistic reason toward the perpetrator, in the case the dying soldier.
As with all the books about the holocaust, it is difficult to read but nevertheless a worthy read. ( )
  AlanTainty | Aug 27, 2018 |
Showing 1-5 of 22 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Simon Wiesenthalprimary authorall editionscalculated
Alkalaj, SvenContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Améry, JeanContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Balic, SmailContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bejski, MosheContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Berger, Alan L.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Brown, Robert McAfeeContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Cargas, Harry JamesEditorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Cargas, Harry JamesContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Coles, RobertContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Dalai LamaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Fetterman, Bonny V.Editorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Fisher, Eugene J.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Flannery, Edward H.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Fleischner, EvaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Fox, MartthewContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Goldstein, RebeccaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Gordon, MaryContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Goulden, MarkContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Habe, HansContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Halevi, Yossi KleinContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hertzberg, ArthurContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hesburgh, Theodore M.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Heschel, Abraham JoshuaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Heschel, SusannahContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hobday, JoseContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hollis, ChristopherContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Kamenetz, RodgerContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
König, Cardinal FranzContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Kushner, Harold S.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Langer, Lawrence L.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Levi, PrimoContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Lipstadt, Deborah E.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Littell, Franklin H.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Locke, Hubert G.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Loewy, Erich H.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Marcuse, HerbertContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Marty, Martin E.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Ozick, CynthiaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Pawlikowski, John T.Contributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Prager, DennisContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Pran, DithContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Prittie, TerenceContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Ricard, MatthieuContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Rubenstein, JoshuaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Shachnow, SidneyContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Soelle, DorotheeContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Speer, AlbertContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Sperber, ManèsContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Stein, AndréContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Tec, NechamaContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Telushkin, JosephContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Todorov, TzvetanContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Tutu, DesmondContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Waskow, ArthurContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Wu, HarryContributorsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bearse, M. KristenDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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What was it Arthur said last night?
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But the God who allowed the Holocaust did not, and does not, have the standing to forgive the monsters who had carried out the murders.  (Arthur Hertzberg)
On the other hand, when Simon Wiesenthal visited the dead soldier's mother in Stuttgart some months later, he was right not to deprive her of her illusions about her son.   He did not visit his sins on her.    Wiesenthal obeyed the Biblical injunction that each of us dies for our own sins, and not even for those of our children or of our parents.  (Arthur Hertzberg)
But there are always time lags between the several stages in translating moral and religious guilt into civil and juridical guilt.  First there is the realization that some wickedness is not like an earthquake or a flood: it is wrong, and someone did it. Then there is the time lag until the thought penetrates the communal mind that if someone did it, the person can be punished (and others so inclined be discouraged.)  There follows the time lag until the crime is defined and the punishment decreed for perpetrators.  Finally there is a time lag until the laws that are on the book generally can be enforced.  (Franklin H. Littel)  (emphasis added)
There is much that silence can teach us, if we could but learn to listen to it.  Not the least of its lessons is that there may well be questions for which there are no answers and other questions for which answers would remove the moral force of the question. […]  We concede that we are not gods and that we lack, as much as we might be loath to admit it, the capacity to provide understanding and assurance for every inexplicable moment in life.  (Hubert G. Locke)
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PLEASE DO NOT COMBINE THIS EDITION WITH EITHER THE ORIGINAL EDITION OR THE HARDCOVER REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION.

The hardcover of REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION 32 new contributions and 1 revised contribution, as compared to the ORIGINAL EDITION. It is significantly changed from the first edition.

In addition, this PAPERBACK EDITION of the REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION has an added 7 new contributions, so PLEASE DO NOT COMBINE with the other editions.

Thank you!
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A group of philosophers, critics, and writers weigh the moral issues involved in a young Jews' response to a dying Nazi's confession of mass murder.

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