The Sunflower_ On the Possibilities and - Wiesenthal, Simon copy

after the war wrote the word “Forgiveness” on the Jewish flag, was for me just as dubious
as are the Jews who take the sword of revenge from the hand of humanity. By “we” I mean
humanity, not the Jews alone.
Is murder unforgivable? Yes, without question. Can one forgive the murderer? That is a
question that is closely tied up in the complex of punishment. A desire to punish the
murderer is the commandment of Justice. To forgive the murderer after he has suffered
punishment is the commandment of Love. You write that Karl was “not born a murderer and
did not want to die a murderer.” What has that to do with the problem of forgiveness? It is
not relevant and in no sense an excuse. Practically nobody is born a murderer. Those who
are born murderers are the pathological exceptions—their deeds, as a matter of fact, are
more pardonable than those who are born “healthy.” The death of Christ on the Cross is the
symbol of a free human decision. He who decides to commit a murder is laden with a
greater guilt than he who is driven to become a criminal by abnormal environment. Anyhow,
there is hardly anybody who wanted to die a murderer, even atheists are afraid of the
Hereafter.
So we cannot forgive murderers—so long as the murder is not atoned for, either by us as
jurymen or by the Supreme Judge. Every society—every society, I repeat, rests upon certain
moral principles, at the head of which stands atonement for capital crimes, and this brings
me to your next unspoken question: Can there be any extenuating circumstances for murder?
It stands to reason there must be extenuating circumstances—otherwise every murder trial
would be pointless—so we must examine them. In several passages, particularly in your
conversation with the SS man's mother, you describe Karl's path to murder. That is the
natural, but complicated, thing to do. One must not confuse the question of forgiveness with