The Sunflower_ On the Possibilities and - Wiesenthal, Simon copy

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Holocaust, repeat many of its horrors.…I believe that the condemnation of Karadzic and Mladic—verbal, at first—and the threat to put them before a tribunal—would have an effect. The United States could, I hope, put an end to the deeds of these two men and their soldiers by publicly announcing that the crimes they committed will not remain unpunished.” The importance to the world of holding such individuals responsible for their crimes is indisputable. But the question posed in The Sunflower is more subtle and, in some sense, more vexing. What about the rank-and-file, the faceless individuals who carry out the crimes against other people ordered by their leaders? What about the individual responsibility of ordinary people, blinded or coerced by the reigning political ideology of their day, and of the small number who may regret their actions or repudiate them in a different climate? We laud the heroic individuals who defy and undermine the immoral actions of their governments, despite the mortal dangers such resistance entails—but what of the converse? Moreover, when the killing has stopped, how can a people make peace with another who moments before were their mortal enemies? What are the limits of forgiveness, and is repentance—religious or secular—enough? Is it possible to forgive and not forget? How can victims come to peace with their past, and hold on to their own humanity and morals in the process? All of these issues are raised in this simple and unpretentious book of questioning, based on a single and exceptional encounter between two individuals whose paths strangely and tragically crossed. BONNY V. FETTERMAN
October 1996 PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION The revised and expanded edition of The Sunflower sparked a new round of public forums and symposia in high schools, colleges, seminaries, and educational institutions across the country. This first paperback edition of the revised and expanded Sunflower includes additional responses by Rebecca Goldstein, Mary Gordon, Susannah Heschel, José Hobday, Matthieu Ricard, Sidney Shachnow, and Desmond Tutu. March 1998
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTS Preface BOOK ONE The Sun
Page 6 and 7: Edward H. Flannery Eva Fleischner M
Page 8 and 9: Cardinal Franz König Harold S. Kus
Page 10 and 11: Matthieu Ricard Joshua Rubenstein S
Page 12 and 13: PREFACE When the first American edi
Page 17 and 18: What was it Arthur said last night?
Page 19 and 20: they splintered into small groups,
Page 21 and 22: If so, why were some murderers and
Page 23 and 24: order in which God has a definite p
Page 25 and 26: always led to dire punishment. If a
Page 27 and 28: Our gaze roamed the crowds on the p
Page 29 and 30: last look at the forest of sunflowe
Page 31 and 32: We turned left. I knew the way well
Page 33 and 34: designed as a prison gate. They had
Page 35 and 36: The other soldiers didn't seem to s
Page 37 and 38: work with Derdacki—a design for a
Page 39 and 40: I obeyed. His almost bloodless hand
Page 41 and 42: “I heard from one of the sisters
Page 43 and 44: All the atrocities and tortures tha
Page 45 and 46: closed the door behind me I heard m
Page 47 and 48: spirits. Oh, the jokes we used to p
Page 49 and 50: see symbols in everything. It was a
Page 51 and 52: He took a deep breath. Then a sip o
Page 53 and 54: “As we approached I could see the
Page 55 and 56: forget—least of all the child. It
Page 57 and 58: constantly warned Eli's parents to
Page 59 and 60: monotone. Sick people when they are
Page 61 and 62: “Our rest period did not last lon
Page 63 and 64: “In that moment I saw the burning
Page 65 and 66:
the fact that he spoke to me was a
Page 67 and 68:
“I was beginning to think you had
Page 69 and 70:
At the end of Grodezka Street we tu
Page 71 and 72:
Luckily the commandant was nowhere
Page 73 and 74:
was better to keep my mouth shut ab
Page 75 and 76:
career when the war broke out. Duri
Page 77 and 78:
He now had me where he wanted me: I
Page 79 and 80:
His father brought him to me in his
Page 81 and 82:
though the Poles were now themselve
Page 83 and 84:
to prove they were earning their sp
Page 85 and 86:
swallowed it ravenously. Soldiers s
Page 87 and 88:
failed. Then one day the extra labo
Page 89 and 90:
whole stock of drugs consisted of i
Page 91 and 92:
“Bolek,” I insisted, “you who
Page 93 and 94:
“Maybe. But had he come to the ri
Page 95 and 96:
At that time the world was seeking
Page 97 and 98:
confronted the mother I did not kno
Page 99 and 100:
move to my sister's, but I don't wa
Page 101 and 102:
She could not tell me enough. I had
Page 103 and 104:
Germans to find out who was guilty.
Page 105 and 106:
My picture of Karl was almost compl
Page 107:
And later when I met his mother I a
Page 110 and 111:
tool of war. Over 10,000 individual
Page 112 and 113:
I explicitly and emphatically rejec
Page 114 and 115:
JEAN AMÉRY My high regard for your
Page 116 and 117:
part in the extermination, he knew
Page 118 and 119:
SMAIL BALI Now that nearly thirty y
Page 120 and 121:
shape the views of the masses. One
Page 122 and 123:
epresentative of German Nazism, or
Page 124 and 125:
Even if Wiesenthal believed that he
Page 126 and 127:
except when the state declares an a
Page 128 and 129:
forgiveness is forbidden. Judaism t
Page 130 and 131:
ROBERT MCAFEE BROWN Warsaw, 1979. W
Page 132 and 133:
after twenty-seven years in jail, p
Page 134 and 135:
HARRY JAMES CARGAS I am afraid not
Page 136 and 137:
ROBERT COLES We are told at the end
Page 138 and 139:
inconceivable to us. Still, with ca
Page 140 and 141:
THE DALAI LAMA I believe one should
Page 142 and 143:
EUGENE J. FISHER Simon Wiesenthal's
Page 144 and 145:
Secondly, I believe it is the heigh
Page 146 and 147:
a prayer or two that the efforts in
Page 148 and 149:
Simon's sleep was not to remain so
Page 150 and 151:
unanimity on such issues is rarely,
Page 152 and 153:
course; it has invariably led to an
Page 154 and 155:
elates to the concept of atonement,
Page 156 and 157:
MATTHEW FOX Simon Wiesenthal is a t
Page 158 and 159:
the dying but guilt-ridden soldier.
Page 160 and 161:
allows these sins to take root and
Page 162 and 163:
all-to-hell type, the Nazi beast. D
Page 164 and 165:
increments in his humanity add up,
Page 166 and 167:
the community that gives him that r
Page 168 and 169:
Did the Germans actually feed into
Page 170 and 171:
even saw one, and whatever atrociti
Page 172 and 173:
HANS HABE On reading The Sunflower
Page 174 and 175:
the question of punishment. If Karl
Page 176 and 177:
murderer or not, for Providence rel
Page 178 and 179:
those Jews who tried to isolate Ger
Page 180 and 181:
ARTHUR HERTZBERG This personal hist
Page 182 and 183:
had carried out the murders. On the
Page 184 and 185:
ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL Over fifty y
Page 186 and 187:
SUSANNAH HESCHEL I would have done
Page 188 and 189:
JOSÉ HOBDAY The question, “What
Page 190 and 191:
CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS The Sunflower, w
Page 192 and 193:
these are explanations. They are no
Page 194 and 195:
confessing to an unknown Jew? The J
Page 196 and 197:
had also reached the same point, th
Page 198 and 199:
Archbishop of Vienna Reading about
Page 200 and 201:
HAROLD S. KUSHNER I am not sure the
Page 202 and 203:
while he's living it up with his ne
Page 204 and 205:
Although many have hailed the since
Page 206 and 207:
the sinner to eternal damnation bef
Page 208 and 209:
in absolving your man, and you woul
Page 210 and 211:
level: from within themselves, they
Page 212 and 213:
forgiveness. Citizens of Germany, A
Page 214 and 215:
deathbed moment of crystal clarity.
Page 216 and 217:
outsiders, cynicism and atheism hav
Page 218 and 219:
e sure, the conviction that we gain
Page 220 and 221:
ERICH H. LOEWY Anyone who has never
Page 222 and 223:
Of course, Wiesenthal could not for
Page 224 and 225:
HERBERT MARCUSE I think I would hav
Page 226 and 227:
“What would I have done?” becom
Page 228 and 229:
the cheapening of grace. A second f
Page 230 and 231:
CYNTHIA OZICK
Page 232 and 233:
2. THE SOURCES OF PITY Pity is not
Page 234 and 235:
But that is a misunderstanding. Ven
Page 236 and 237:
4. MORAL TENDERNESS, MORAL RESPONSI
Page 238 and 239:
greatest moral philosopher of the a
Page 240 and 241:
more complex process, especially in
Page 242 and 243:
interventionist possibilities can n
Page 244 and 245:
DENNIS PRAGER I am a religious Jew
Page 246 and 247:
murderer, not his punishment (let a
Page 248 and 249:
has been taken to mean “pray for
Page 250 and 251:
Pulling away from the Khmer Rouge l
Page 252 and 253:
TERENCE PRITTIE Men who are dying e
Page 254 and 255:
MATTHIEU RICARD For a Buddhist, for
Page 256 and 257:
JOSHUA RUBENSTEIN As we near the cl
Page 258 and 259:
We know today, if Simon did not at
Page 260 and 261:
SIDNEY SHACHNOW Having spent most o
Page 262 and 263:
from communism. I was prepared to g
Page 264 and 265:
extraordinary happened, something I
Page 266 and 267:
human beings. And yet, those eyes a
Page 268 and 269:
themselves into a collective and un
Page 270 and 271:
mission. But if that young man had
Page 272 and 273:
he have the right to ask for forgiv
Page 274 and 275:
treat the man as a monster who had
Page 276 and 277:
nasty lie. As a child survivor of t
Page 278 and 279:
give up prosecuting those who have
Page 280 and 281:
seems to be denying to the Jews the
Page 282 and 283:
Forgiveness is not a simple, discre
Page 284 and 285:
JOSEPH TELUSHKIN Was this young Naz
Page 286 and 287:
that if a murderer accepts his puni
Page 288 and 289:
specifically human activity which c
Page 290 and 291:
What would I have done? Our preside
Page 292 and 293:
left the Jewish people still strugg
Page 294 and 295:
HARRY WU Reading Simon Wiesenthal's
Page 296 and 297:
out of the barracks and braced ours
Page 298 and 299:
CONTRIBUTORS SVEN ALKALAJ is the am
Page 300 and 301:
volumes); The Moral Life of Childre
Page 302 and 303:
ecipient of the Herzl Prize, his wo
Page 304 and 305:
He has taught at the Jewish Theolog
Page 306 and 307:
at the Catholic Theological Union i
Page 308 and 309:
died in 1981. MANÈS SPERBER, Frenc
Page 310 and 311:
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR SIMON WIESE
Page 312 and 313:
Other SCHOCKEN BOOKS of Related Int
Page 314 and 315:
Available at your local bookstore,
Page 316 and 317:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
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