THE SUNFLOWER by Simon Wiesenthal, To Forgive, That is the Question

Simon Wiesenthal (b. Austria 1908-2005) was a Holocaust survivor.  After WWII, Wiesenthal made it his life's mission to hunt down Nazi SS mass murderers and bring them to justice in the courts of law. Wiesenthal wanted the world to know of the atrocities they committed remind us of the mass genocide of 11.000,000 lives systematically killed.  In Wiesenthal's THE SUNFLOWER he shares with us his encounter with a Nazi soldier on his deathbed.  While a concentration camp internee, he is summoned as a Jew to the dying soldier who wishes to allay his conscience & ask forgiveness for the atrocities and murders he committed.  Wiesenthal listened in silence to his heinous actions and remained silent when asked forgiveness.  This experience continued to weigh heavily on Mr. Wiesenthal.  Wiesenthal's quandary is his most important legacy.  THE SUNFLOWER poses the question to the reader what would should he have done & what would you have done.  Wiesenthal shared his feelings with fellow prisoners.  He is chastened by an inmate "If we survive this camp-and I don't think we will-and the world comes to its sense again, inhabited by people who look on each other as human beings, then there will be plenty of time to discuss the question of forgiveness."  Wiesenthal seeks the counsel of a surfeit of theologians, experts on social ethics, religious leaders, Holocaust survivors and others wrongfully interned.  Their introspections are contained in his book.  I contend forgiveness would have trivialized the mass genocide.  Forgiveness must be preceded by atonement.  "The opposite of not forgiving is neither cruelty, nor wallowing.  It is a way of healing and honoring our pain and grief" (Andre Stein.)  Wiesenthal eternally reminds us there are no innocent bystanders and actions carry consequences.