Harry James Cargas (1932–1998)

This is definitely an academic text, and has the feel of a college textbook: many of the essays are dry and none of them make for particularly engaging reading. That said, those who can tolerate the extremely scholarly tone of the book with find that the essays are well-researched, well-argued and thought-provoking. Is it morally wrong to smother a baby to keep its cries from alerting the Nazis to the presence of Jews hiding in a bunker? Can artists and writers who did not personally go show more through the Holocaust convey it effectively? Did people who survived because they were privileged "golden youth" have reason to feel guilty about it? These and other questions are addressed here. show less

I read this a second time and this time I was very disappointed. I feel uncomfortable criticizing the late Elie Wiesel because of the trauma he survived and shared with the world. However, at this reading I felt so many of his statements regarding life and his theology were so obscure I was unable to learn from them.

A dying Nazi soldier has Simon Wiesenthal, a concentration camp inmate, brought to him so that he can be forgiven for his part in a horrible massacre. This updated version of Wiesenthal's earlier book has more responses from people of many faiths and countries. Personally, I don't think you can give absolution to someone unless the sin, or in this case, the atrocity, was done to you. But read it to hear what other people have to say about this particular instance and the problem of evil in show more general. show less

I read this book for one of my philosophy classes.

This book poses a very interesting ethical dilemma: As a prisoner in a concentration camp, do you forgive a dying SS solider? This book offers numerous responses to this question. Some were a bit repetitive. Some didn't really answer the question at all. But some were really thought provoking.