Forgiving In Simon's Death

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In recent discussions of what the reader would do if placed in Simon’s position, a controversial issue has been whether they would forgive the dying SS man, Karl, or not. On the one hand, some argue that the incident didn’t happen directly to Simon. From this perspective, Simon then has no right to forgive for the people that it happened to. On the other hand, however, others argue that since he showed remorse that he could be forgiven but not forgotten to ease his mind. In the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, “No one can forgive crimes committed against other people. It is therefore preposterous to assume that anyone alive can extend forgiveness for the suffering of any one of the six million people who perished”(Wiesenthal 171). According …show more content…

Though I concede that the SS man showed remorse, I still maintain that Simon did the right thing by not forgiving him. For example, it would be like apologizing for a car crash because you drove the same type of car that caused the accident. Although some might object that he himself went through brutal events that he could answer for the other Jews, I would reply that it didn’t happen to him directly so he has no right. The issue is important because the Holocaust should never be …show more content…

Moshe Bejski himself writes, “But how can forgiveness be asked of someone whose death sentence will soon be carried out by the dying mans partner in crime, who are part of the same regime, when the dying person himself admits that he too has been committing these same crimes against the Jewish people and was only stopped when the hand of God overtook him”(Wiesenthal 114). Bejski’s point is that how can he ask for forgiveness from someone who has suffered so much atrocity from his people, and was only stopped because he’s dying. Would he have stopped being an SS man if he wasn’t dying? My discussion of forgiveness is in fact addressing the larger matter of would he have stopped if he wasn't dying or would his conscious have stopped him? The question of if he ever felt true remorse can never be answered. I believe Karl felt remorse, but I’m not sure to what extent. But the burning house was only part of his story. It was only one of the many crimes he committed against the Jews. In sum, then, someone who hasn’t felt true remorse doesn’t deserve to be forgiven. Asking a Jew that had nothing to do with his sin doesn’t fix things for Karl. In addition, Beljski goes on to argue that, “Forgiveness is being sought - that of a Jew whose fate had already been sealed by the dying man’s comrades, who did not then feel, and most likely never felt, remorse”(Wiesenthal 114). The essence of

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