The Sunflower_ On the Possibilities and - Wiesenthal, Simon copy

SMAIL BALI
Now that nearly thirty years have passed since The Sunflower was written, we can
regard the horrifying events of this autobiographical story with some degree of detachment.
This detachment allows for a more sober assessment of the issues the story raises
concerning remorse and forgiveness. At the time of those dramatic events, the author was
himself persecuted, his very existence threatened by the destructive machinery of a gruesome
regime. When an SS man plagued by a bad conscience begged him for forgiveness, he saw
no choice but to refuse. Most likely I would have done the same in his situation. However,
many people would argue that the dying man's sincere remorse and fervent desire invited the
opposite reaction, especially if one had not suffered any direct personal harm from the
pleading man. The author, Simon Wiesenthal, would not have cheapened himself by granting
formal forgiveness, although it would have cost him a great deal of effort. In this situation,
forgiveness would have been only on his personal behalf, thus ruling out the notion of
general absolution anyway. Still, it would have accomplished its purpose.
I personally feel bound by tradition to summon up some compassion (merhamet, as
Bosnians call it) for every sufferer. This desire is of course purely theoretical. Nonetheless,
in order to understand a person who has carried the burden of so much injustice and
suffering, we have to imagine ourselves in his position. In the words of an oriental fable,
“No doctor should go to a person who has fallen from a minaret if he has not experienced
this type of fall himself.” A great deal of circumspection would be required before