The Sunflower

Simon Wiesenthal may be best known for his dedication to hunting Nazi war criminals and bringing them to justice.  However his book, The Sunflower, provides the world with an equally valuable service, to question oneself and our actions.  The Sunflower is written in two parts.  The first part tells of his encounter with a dying SS soldier while he was incarcerated in a work camp .  The dying man asks for Wiesenthal's forgiveness as a representative of the Jewish community the soldier has persecuted and murdered.  Simon leaves the room without saying a word.

The question of granting this forgiveness has troubled Wiesenthal, so much so that he has written fifty-three men and women to determine whether his decision to not respond to the dying SS man was the right thing?  The responses of the Holocaust survivors, survivors of more recent genocides, theologians, human rights activists and others comprise the second part of this fascinating book.  Their responses make me question what I would have done and my thoughts on the concept of forgiveness, retribution and compassion.

This book provides the opportunity to really look at one's self internally.  I found myself not only pondering Wiesenthal's question, but also thinking about other situations where a decision to forgive was necessary.  Although there is no way to determine definitively what the correct answer is, if there even is a correct answer, I found that the exercise in thinking and reflecting to be an extremely worthwhile experience.  I hope to use passages from The Sunflower in my classroom and look forward to the conversations the book will produce.