I've finished the first part of The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, and I've been meditating on the following two conversations recorded by concentration camp prisoner Simon Wiesenthal.
Wiesenthal always wondered if he did right after he was pulled off a work detail to be with a young German SS man who wanted to confess misdeeds he had done toward Jewish people during World War II. In talking with fellow prisoners about what he witnessed, this is what he heard:
From the Jewish perspective, Josek had this to say:
"I feared at first, that you had really forgiven him. You would have had no right to do this in the name of people who had not authorized you to do so. What people have done to you yourself you can, if you like, forgive and forget. That is your own affair. But it would have been a terrible sin to burdn your consciecne with other people's sufferings. ... [N]ow you don't know whether it was right or wrong. But believe me, it was right. You have suffered nothing because of him, and it follows that what he as done to other people you are in no position to forgive."
Some time later, a Polish fellow, Bolek, who was studying to become a priest before being imprisoned said that Weisenthal really didn't need to absolve the young German.
Bolek: "One thing is certain: you can only forgive a wrong that has been done to yourself....Yet on the other hand: Whom had the SS man to turn to? None of those he had wronged were still alive. ... So this Lemberg fellow showed signs of repentance, genuine, sincere repentance for his deeds-that at least is how you described it."
"Yes," I answered. "I am still convinced of that."
"Then," Bolek proclaimed solemnly, "Then he deserved the mercy of forgiveness. ... In our religion, repentance is the most important element in seeking forgiveness...And he certainly repented."
There are many essays to follow, and I'll be looking to see how these questions are answered:
Wiesenthal always wondered if he did right after he was pulled off a work detail to be with a young German SS man who wanted to confess misdeeds he had done toward Jewish people during World War II. In talking with fellow prisoners about what he witnessed, this is what he heard:
From the Jewish perspective, Josek had this to say:
"I feared at first, that you had really forgiven him. You would have had no right to do this in the name of people who had not authorized you to do so. What people have done to you yourself you can, if you like, forgive and forget. That is your own affair. But it would have been a terrible sin to burdn your consciecne with other people's sufferings. ... [N]ow you don't know whether it was right or wrong. But believe me, it was right. You have suffered nothing because of him, and it follows that what he as done to other people you are in no position to forgive."
Some time later, a Polish fellow, Bolek, who was studying to become a priest before being imprisoned said that Weisenthal really didn't need to absolve the young German.
Bolek: "One thing is certain: you can only forgive a wrong that has been done to yourself....Yet on the other hand: Whom had the SS man to turn to? None of those he had wronged were still alive. ... So this Lemberg fellow showed signs of repentance, genuine, sincere repentance for his deeds-that at least is how you described it."
"Yes," I answered. "I am still convinced of that."
"Then," Bolek proclaimed solemnly, "Then he deserved the mercy of forgiveness. ... In our religion, repentance is the most important element in seeking forgiveness...And he certainly repented."
There are many essays to follow, and I'll be looking to see how these questions are answered:
- Who has the right to forgive?
- Can you forgive without intent to forgive?
- Can you forgive in the name of those who can't?
- Who has the right to expect forgiveness?
- Can you receive forgiveness without exactly asking for it?
- Is confessing a wrong to another enough to earn forgiveness?
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