The Sunflower_ On the Possibilities and - Wiesenthal, Simon copy

We can only be thankful that the passage of time dulls the pain somewhat and heals the
open wounds to a certain extent, so that we can look at the issues in a broader perspective.
Yet the crimes committed by the Nazi regime were so barbarous and so destructive to the
victims that those who somehow managed to survive have never been able to free
themselves of the horrors they had to endure. Moreover, the few survivors found themselves
with no families, and their children grew up without grandparents. Thus, in addition to all
their other injustices the Nazis themselves have prevented their crimes from being forgotten.
The survivors have been sentenced to bear their pain and sadness to the grave. Without
forgetting there can be no forgiving.
It is indeed true that not only the German people are interested in consigning the crimes of
the Nazi regime to oblivion, the world has also begun to forget too soon. Even in the
countries that suffered under the occupation of that sadistic regime, the number of Nazi
criminals who have been found, brought to trial, and punished, even as a deterrent for
potential criminals, is dwindling. Thus thousands and perhaps hundreds of thousands of
Germans who participated in and committed genocide and crimes against humanity returned
to their homes and to quiet, peaceful lives, without their consciences ever bothering them,
without ever feeling any remorse. Certainly these people do not need to be forgiven by
anyone, not by the victims and not by God.
Does repentance alone justify and bring about forgiveness and allow crimes to be
forgotten?
Even in normal criminology and penology only true regret accompanied by reformed
behavior can be considered a justification for lightening a sentence, and even then not
necessarily in the case of serious crimes. No matter what, regret never pardons crimes,