The Sunflower_ On the Possibilities and - Wiesenthal, Simon copy

the question of punishment. If Karl were being tried by an earthly court, there would be such
extenuating circumstances in his favor as youth, environment, the times, the general
atmosphere, and war conditions. Nevertheless, in this case we are operating in two different
dimensions. Forgiveness is a spiritual matter, punishment is a legal matter. The verdict of
the court is influenced by extenuating circumstances. Such circumstances induce a milder
judgment, but in no way mean that we are forgiving the murderer. The free will given to a
man does not merely grant him the choice between committing a murderous deed or
refraining from it. It is also a part of man's free will whether he allows justice to take its
course or whether he dispenses with it. An amnesty granted to an unpunished murderer is a
form of complicity in the crime. It does not foster forgiveness, it precludes it.
Again, who should be the object of our forgiveness or our revenge?
You are a man of high principle, and although you relate the story of the SS man and his
victims, the proceedings which initially were directed against the murderer end with the
Nazi system as the prisoner at the bar. Here our paths diverge.
For the regime we are discussing there is no “problem” of forgiveness. The crimes of the
regime were unforgivable, the regime has been tried and destroyed. Meanwhile we are
faced not with Mephistopheles, but with Faust. Corruption, though a force of permanent
duration, cannot exist without collaboration from the corrupted. The corrupted, in a word,
are not victims of the corrupters, but collaborators. With the words “Terrible vision!” Faust
turns away, but the ghost rightly defends himself: “You invited me cordially, you have long
dabbled in my domain…You have passionately striven to see me, to hear my voice, to gaze
on my countenance…”
The firm is Faust & Co. or, if you prefer it, Mephistopheles & Co., partners just like