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Simon Wiesenthal Acted Right by not forgiving the Nazi, Karl, for his for his crimes against the Jews
The reality of forgiveness is one of the hardest things incomprehensible in the human life. Throughout our lives, we are faced with a number of challenging situations that understanding them goes beyond the conscience of our thoughts. The ease at which we forgive largely depends on the nature and the effect of the actions that require forgiveness. Simon Wiesenthal’s novel, The Sunflower is one of the narratives that leave us in dilemma on whether Wiesenthal should forgive the dying soldier (Nazi, Karl) or not. However, I support Wiesenthal’s act of moving away from the dying soldier rather than just forgiving him for his past deeds. Karl actions towards the Jews are an act of inhumanity that requires deep heart, mind, and soul searching. Despite the fact that Karl is dying, Simon should not forgive since the dying soldier is still better placed in the society as compared to the Jews. He will receive a decent burial, as he will be buried in a graveyard with sunflower lighting his dark grave. I believe that not forgiving Karl for his actions is better than forgiving him. Simon has acted to his level’s best by listening to Karl’s confession. Therefore, it is best for him to leave Karl face the consequences of his crimes, victims, and sins (Wiesenthal, Simon, Harry, Cargas, and Bonny 25). By doing this, it provides Karl with the best opportunity to face the consequences of his past actions before dying. In reality, it is easy to forgive somebody who has sinned against you unlike somebody who has sinned against someone else or a group of people by destroying property and taking life away. Therefore, it is only God who is able to forgive Karl for his actions and not Simon since he does not represent the whole of the Jewish population killed by the Nazi soldiers. Thus, Karl should have asked forgiveness from God for his actions rather than confessing to Simon who is one among thousands of Jews affected by his actions. Despite the fact that Simon felt repentance in Karl’s voice, Simon acted best in not forgiving him since the Nazis see Simon as a mere Jew (54). Karl and other soldiers’ acts such as burning the Jews houses is an act of inhumanity that extends beyond forgiveness (43). It should be recognized that Karl freely joined the Nazi army and freely killed the Jews with pretext of disliking them. His act of freely joining the army and killing the Jews makes it difficult for one to forgive him for his acts towards the Jews. Karl might be asking for forgiveness as he knows that he is about to die. If it was not for the death, Karl could not have asked for forgiveness from the Jews. Therefore, Karl should not be forgiven for his acts. Human beings have no moral rights to tell other individuals what constitutes their moral behaviors. Therefore, Simon has no right to forgive Karl for his actions since they belong to different faiths and culture, which may lead to variance in the interpretation of the moral behaviors. The Nazi soldiers Karl included killed innocent people with a core aim of revenging what the Jews had done for them in the past. Therefore, all participants in a genocide deserve must die with guilty conscience as a reward for their inhuman acts. Additionally, Simon’s actions justify the fact that God only forgives individuals who have been forgiven by their victims. Nazi soldiers’ actions do not affect Simon directly hence, has no right to forgive Karl for his actions to the Jews. From the above argument, I strongly believe that Simon acted right by walking away from the dying soldier and not forgiving him.

Works cited
Wiesenthal, Simon, Harry J. Cargas, and Bonny V. Fetterman. The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. New York: Schocken Books, 2008. Internet resource.