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    14 views13 pages

    The Sunflower Reading Packet 2016

    Uploaded by

    Ben Rogaczewski

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 13
    You are a prisoner in a concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do? Religion/Philosophy iad justice, silence and truth, Wie rears after the war had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right 2 What would you have done in his place? In this important book, fifty-three distinguished men and women, respond to Wiesenthal’ questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of attempted genocide in Bosnia, Cambodia, China, and Tibet. Their responses, a varied as their ex- perietices of the world, remind us that Wiesenthal’s questions are not limited to events of the past. Often surprising and always thought provoking, The Sunflower wil challenge you to define your beliefs about justice, compassion, and hurnan responsibility. mich} WinsenTHat has been honored internationally for his work in identifying Nazi war criminals. The author of many books, including The Murderers Among Us and Justice Not Vengeance, he lives in Austin. Cover photog by Jey Cake Photonie Cover design by Rey Backer SCHOCKEN Booxs, NEW YorK wwwitandomhouse.com 5/98 Printed in the US.A. © 1998 Random House, Inc. Bee ae WIESENTHAL i wens ons{ The nurse told me thar the surgeon had taken a whole basinful of shell spliners out of my body. Ie was a miracle that 3 Twas stil alive—everi now Iam as good as dead. . He sighed. His thoughts were once again centered on him- self and he was filled with self-pity. “The pain became more and more unbearable. My whole body is covered with marks fom pain-killing injections I was taken from one field hospital to another, but hey never sent me home... That was the real punishment for me. I wanted to go home to my mother. I knew what my father would say in his inflexible severity. Bat my mother ....She ‘would look at me with other eyes.” . Isaw a was torturing himself. He was determined to gloss over nothing. ‘Once again he groped for my hand, but I had withdrawn it sometime before and was sitting on it, out of his reach, I did not want to be touched by the hand of death. He sought my pity, bue had he any right to pity? Did a man of his kind de- serve anybody's pity? Did he think he would find picy if he d himself... Look,” he said, “those Jews died quickly, they did not suf- fer as I do—though they were not as guilty as Yam.” ‘At this I stood up to go—I, the last Jew in his life. But he held me fast with his white, bloodless hand. Whence could a man drained of blood derive such strengeh? “"{ was taken from one hospital to another, chey never sent me home. But I told you that before ... [am well aware of my condition and all the time I have been lying here I have never stopped thinking of the horrible deed at Dnepropetrovsk. If only Ihad not survived that shell—but I cant die yet, although Thave often longed to die ... Sometimes I hoped that the doc- 52 THE SUNFLOWER fot would give me an injection to put me out of my misery. T ‘Have indeed asked him to put me to sleep. But he has no pity Tor me although know he has released other dying men from ‘hee sufferings by means of injections, Perhaps he is deterred 2by my youth. On the board at the foot of my bed is not only ny: name but also my dace of perhaps that keeps him ack. So I lie here waiting for death. The. pains in my body are tertible, but worse still is my conscience. It never ceases to re- ‘mind me of the burning house and the family chat jumped from the window" © Hie lapsed into silence, seeking for words. He wants some~ thing feom me, I chought, for T could not imagine that he had brought me here merely a8 an audience “When I was still a boy I believed with my mind and soul jn God and in the commandments of the Church, Then every- thing was easier. If I still had chat faith Iam sure death would snot be so hard. “T cannot die... without coming clean. This must be my confession, But what sort of confession is this? A letter with- ‘out an answer. ‘No doubt he was referring to my silence. But what could I say? Here was a dying man—a murderer who did not want to be 2 murderer but who had been made into a murderer by a murderous ideology. He was confessing his crime to 2 man who perhaps tomortow must die at the hands of these same ure derers. In his confession there was true repentance, even though he did not admit ic in so many words. Nor was it necessary, for the way he spoke and che fact that he spoke to me was 2 proof of his cepentance. sees > over He sat up and put his hands together as if eo pray. ““[ want to die in peace, and so Ineed...” T saw that he could nor get the words past his lips. Bue I ‘was in no mood to help him. I kept silent. “T know that what I have told you is terrible. In the long nights while I have been waiting for death, time and time again Thave longed to talk about it co a Jew and beg forgiveness fom him. Only I didatt know whether chere were any Jews le... [know that what I am asking is almost coo much for you, but without your answer I cannot die in peace.” Now, there was an uncanny silence in the room. I looked through the window. The front of the buildings opposite was flooded with sunshine. The sun was high in the heavens. There ‘was only a small triangular shadow in the courtyard. “What a contrast between the glorious sunshine outside and the shadow of this bestial age here in the death chamber! Here lay a man in bed who wished. to die in peace—but he could not, because the memory of his terrible crime gave him no rest. ‘And by him sat a man also doomed to die—but who did not avant to die because he yearned to see the end of all the horror that blighted the world. Two men who had never known each other had been 4 THE SUNSLOWER brought together fora few hours by Fate. One asks the other for help. But the other was himself helpless and able co do nothing for him. 1 stood up and looked in his direction, at his folded hands Becween them there seemed to rest a sunflower. ‘At last I made up my mind and withour a word I Jefe che “The nurse was not outside the door. I forgot where I was and did not go back down the staircase up which the aurse had brought me. As Tused to do in student days, went downstairs to the main entrance and it was not until I saw surprised looks «from the nurses and doctors that I realized I was taking the ‘wrong way down. But I did not retreat. Nobody stopped me and I walled through the main door into the open ait and re turned to my comrades... The sun at its zenith was blazing des were sitting on the grass spooning soup out of hospital had made us all a presesy ‘man. The en- ‘counter wich him was 2° profoundly disturbed me. “Where have you been t reply. anything?” he asked as he peered into the HARRY WU that the Party had done in the name of its peopl at her that day, Lfelta brief moment of triumph. You destroy all of us, I said to her silently. Jn regard to Mz. Wiesenthal’ story and in bx stoky to may own, I must fist state that it ime ty believe thar anyone in the Peopl for such forgiveness as the )%azi soldiey did to the no understinding that ej¢/own people was in any way .de Ma were so typical. They L-being. There was no value quite simply; the leaders of the 7m human life. Ia order to survive im feaes, one had to give up one’s own con- dike on his deathbed, but I would have beby able to say to hime “Rugderstand why you were a part of a hornibe and vicious so- ciety. You are responsible for your own actiobs but everyone clse in this society shares that same responsibility with you.” 274 li acc tet © SVEN ALKALAT is the ambassador of the Republic of Bosnia tad Herzegovina 0 the United States, che fst co seeve in chit postion. Fle was formesly a prominent businessman swith “En exgoinvest” Sarajevo, the largest company in Bosnia and Herze- ovina. Bor ia r948;he ia descendant of a well Jewish family i Sarajevo which traces its ancestry 9 Spa's “Golden Age” of Sephardic Jewry: CONTRIBUTORS 13 most profound critics and a after the proclamation of JEAN AMERY was one of E essayists. Fleeing his native the Nuremberg Laws, hi phere he was subsequently capbured by the Gestapo and sent to le his | a series of concentzation camps. After the i hhome in Belgium antil his death in x97 CContomplains by « Survivor on Auschite and i flinching analysis of his ova ianes wosd asa Holocaust victin and survivor. | SMATL BALIC, a Ieading expert on oriental languages, Arab- Tslamic history, and Bosnian culture, was born in Mostar im \ sone and camed his doctorate at the Univesity of Vienna. He 275 © SVEN ALKALAJ On reing The Sone, Tas greatly interested in and also moved by the events described in the book. ‘Writing as a Bos- rian and a Jew, I can state that I now find myself confonted with the same question and dilemma posed by The Sunflower After World War Il and the ‘Nuremberg Trials, we assumed. that what happened to the Jews of Europe would not happen ver again, “Never again." Again has happened in the very heart of Burope. Events in Bosnia and Herzegovina daring the last three-and-ashalf years, which have some parallels with che Holocaust, can inform the search for an answer to the question of forgiveness, Ido not in any way wish to compare the geno- cide in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Holocaust or to sug- gest thar they are identical. I do wish to state, however, that clear parallels exist in regard to the worth of human life. In Sarzjevo, we weie forced to live like rats, scavenging for food. Our only access to the outside world ran through a dark and muddy 160-by-r80-centimeter tunnel. Even our president had ‘o endure this life-threatening trek. We were forced to live in fer that we would not sce tomorrow, knowing that we could be next victims of the bestsplanned “indiscciminate” shelling ipaign in history. We were forced to endure this hell of a life sor SVEN ALKALAT for almost four years—and now we take pride in having sur~ a "the behalf of the victims? And must one forget befoze one can, vived the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, “We saw the slaughter -brenica where 8,000 innocents were killed while under rection of the United Nations. In Bosnia and Herzegovina we've seen entire families perish— children deliberately Killed, tortured, and saped—and we've seen rape become a tool of war. Over 10,000 individuals, ia- cluding 1,700 children, were Killed in Sarajevo alone, over 200,000 people throughout the country: Now their final resting places can be found throughout che cisy—in its former patks, playgrounds, and backyards. ‘This Bosnian generation, as well as the generation th lived through the Holocaust, are among the only ones wo has the right to give an answer to the question of forgiveness. In deed, to paraphrase a colleague of Simon's: Nobody who hast bodily gone through what we went thzough will ever be able to understand fly. If this may seem tangential to the theme of forgiveness can assure you that it is not Alchough Simon was unsure whether his response to the dying SS man was corvect, the was no question as to whether or not he should forget the crimes, It was the images of Eli and the figure of the repentant murderer that remained with Simon. Forgetting the crimes would be worse than forgiving the criminal who seeks forgive- ness, because forgerting the crimes devalues the humanity that perished in chese atrocities. And, as is correctly pointed out by ‘Simon's colleagues, he had no tight to forgive on behalf of is is where the issues of collective or individual gu and victimhood must come into play. Can we, ought we, forgive murderers who aze sill alive? is also a question of how much, how quickly, how easily can any 102 SVEN ALKALAS individual forgive a mass murderer. Who is entitled to speak on forgive? Can I forgive a Setb nationalist gunner who, his breath seeking of plum brandy, lobbed shells into queues of people waiting for bread and water? Or can I forgive the thag who smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol while waiting fora mother or a father, a brother, a sister, a son, or a daughter to enter into his sniper’ sight? The simple answeer in this context is mo. But that is not the faced by Simon. His dilemma comes not only because the dying SS man asks for forgiveness, but also because he genuinely seems to recognize his crime and anilt. This recognition, if nothing else, is an important first seep. “The question of forgiveness must be defined in individual or collective terms, just 2s guilt must be defined in individual or collective terms. In Bosnia and Herzegorina, the Serb fanatical leadership has fed its population such venomous propaganda that some innocent Serbs do not know what happened ia the past four years, Others do know, but like the father of Kaz, felt that they could not act outside the bounds of the mob mental- ity hat swept over much of the victimizer population, both in Nazi Germany and in Serb-occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, Therefore, at this time, there is no general accounting of what _ ually happened among some Setb and even Croat people, as ‘yas the case with Karl's mother. But without recognition of what heppened, chere can never be forgiveness. That is exactly ‘why today’s war crimes tribunal is so important. Not only will dispense justice by punishing the guiley, but also it will show chat happened during the past four years and would even even- ly absolve the innocent. That way, the groundwork for tec- ciliation would be possible. 395 CONTRIBUTORS «lived in Vienna for many years, where he lectured om the Taxk- \jsh language at the Superior School of Commerce. Currently eis professor in the Department of Ihamic-Thegké ial Shidies at the University of Sarajevo. Through hisAcholacly work he seeks to strengthen the culoural and natigfal identity of hi\people, che Muslim-Bosnians. He is the athor of Das -unbekennte Bosnien (The unknown Bosnia). tiles at Yad Vashem. ALAN L. BERGER is rman of Holocaust $hadies at Boca Raton. He wh formerly pro! Religion ar Syradse University whee founded the Jesh Studies Progrgéh. Among his books are ins and Covenant and Juin in te Vdern Word ROBERT/McAFEE BROWN is Professor Emesttys of Theol- ogy andféthics at the Pacific School of Religion. He also taught at Unidn Theological Seminary, Macalester College, and Stan- ford University. He is the author of Thealegy in « New Key, Ele Whee, Mesener 10 All Humanity; and Spirituality and Religion and Violence: A Primer for White America 276 } ‘CONTRIBUTORS | HARRY JAMES CARGAS is the author of thirty-one books, | Wad; dsfrare the Helos; and. Refetions of « By ' Obristian, He Ysthe only Catholic ever appointed national Advisor pRoard of Yad Vashem. HG ident of the Anni incloding A Christian Response to tke Helens; Conversations wi ROBERT COLES is PéSfessor of Psych vay Medical Schocl, and Jatbeg Agee Professor the of poverty, for which he receired DRuliter Prize, ap numerous books on the “inner life” of children. He i th athor of Children of Criss (Eve volumes); The Moral Lit of ran; Te Spiritual Life of Children; The Call of Stres:Tacing ard tbe Moral Imagination, and The Call of Serica A Ws o Tels THE DALAT LAMA, Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the rth Dalai Lama of Tibet, is spiriual leader of Buddhists around she world and revered as a teacher and man of peace. Inx959 he escaped to Indi, following China’ invasion and occupation of Tiber. As spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, Ine has consistently advocated policies of nonviolence and com- passion in the fice of aggression. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. EUGENE J. FISHER is associate ditector of the Secretariat for ‘Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the National Confer- 27 ROBERT COLES ic and melancholy twentieth-censury saga © oe te ly ea tig have behaved under cizcamstances all roo tniliaNp them, and one has to say it, all to inconceiyghle he caveats galore, I proceed to tell of my ghee and me, that we learn how to what ought have wherein the conscience isso many of (the i oe riches was he somenat “ civilized” people we atleast some: THE DALAL LAMA only struggle for (and 9 take to heart what may be, that we never, ever for (us responses, answers, but author’ real intent for us: ‘mind out of respect for those whose suffering has enabled that 4 |@ legacy. THE DALAL LAMA believe one should forgive the person or persons who have committed atrocities against oneself and mankind. But this {docs not necessarily mean one should forgee about the atroci committed. In fact, one should be aware and remember se experiences so that efforts can be made to check the re- nce of such atrocities in the funure. id such an attitude especially helpful in dealing with the ‘Chinese government’ stand on the Tibetan people's struggle to grin freedom, Since China's invasion of Tibet in 1949-50, re than 1.2 million Tibetans, one-fifth of the country’s pop- 9 EUGENE J. FISHER ‘ulation, have lose their lives de to massacre, execution, starvar ‘Gon, and suicide. Yet for more than four decades we have seg ded wo keep ou cause alive and preserve our Buddhist culture of nonriclence and compassion. Tewould be easy to become angry at these tragic events and atrocities, Labeling the Chinese as our enemies, we could sel tighteosly condemn them for theic beuaisy and dismiss them, se amworthy of Further thought or consideration. But char is not the Buddhist way. ‘Hare T would like to rela a very ineresting incident: A fev years back, 2 Tibetan monk who had served about eights. years in a Chinese poison in Tibet came co see me after his Tape to Indi. 1 knew him from my days in Tibet and semee te last seeing him in 1939. During the course of that messing Thad asked him what he felt was the bigges avhile he was in prison. I was amazed by his answer. Is was © Treondsary and inspiting Ins expecting him to say something vee insead he asd that what he most feared was losing his compassion for the Chinese EUGENE J. FISH! BO BUGENE J. FISHER When The Sunflower A n nflowe first appeared in English, [had not yet ofllection was so teachant and ym BE conTarsuToRs ethnonationalisms. He is also senior editor of The Christian Cen tuy and author of many books, indudiog the three-volume st of the Servite Order is Pro- Catholic Theological Union in and Hligious issues. Since 1985, he has been wating his own quarterly journal, Ultimate sus. His books include The Nine Questions Pole Ack Abst Judsiom conathored with Joseph Telushkin, Why the Jove? The Reason for Antsonitiom, and Think a Seon’ Time: 43 DITH PRAN’s wartime life was portrayed in the award The Killing Felis. He served as a war corcespon- ith Sydney Schanberg of The New York Tires, covering the civil war in Cambodia from 1972 to 1975. He was arrested by the Khmer Rouge and exiled to the fozced labor ‘camps where he endured four years of starvation and torture 284 ‘CONTRIBUTORS before escaping to Thailand, and later, the United Seates. In 1976, Schanberg accepted the Pulitzer Prize on behalf of thim- self and Pran, Pran is 2 photojournalist for The New York Times and continues his efforts to publicize the plight of the Cam- bodian people and bring the Khmer Rouge leaders to the ‘World Court TERENCE PRITTIE, a noted British journalist and author, re- Buddhism shortly thereafter. ijfed numerous books on Tibetan of Journey t Enlightenment and co- Ak Le Moine et Le Philsophe with JOSHUA RUBENSTEMNS is che northeast repkgnal director of Amnesty International USA and a Fellow at AX Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian Si wird University. He is the author of Soviet Distons: Thi Siraggle for Human Rights and Tangled Loyalties: The Life and Times of Tha Eheenburg. 285 DITH PRAN nd Billy Graham, went to the Soviet Union, ingead of est social experiment grt Noris it an ode Bo wee is bene ilis aie and to Christians it is ‘equally obvious that one ought to. y \@ DITH PRAN Simon Wiesenthal’ dilemma gets to the core of the issue of forgiveness. Can we as husmans forgive people who have caused us such grief? ‘As a witness to and survivor of the Cambodian killing fields, I could never forgive or forget what the top leadership of the Khmer Rouge has done to me, my family, or friends. 1¢s im- possible I blame the dozen leaders, the brains behind 2 sadistic 230 DITH PRAN plot, who ordered the deaths of millions of people, including the disabled, childsen, religious people, the educated, and any one who they thought was a threat to their ideas. My father died of starvation, my three brothers and sister were Killed, along with many nieces, nephews, and cousins, Friends I had Imnown all my life and who worked beside me in the fields were taken away and killed. We lived in constant fear in the labor camps. There was no sympathy for us. We were in a cage with tigers and there was no way out. All we could do was pray to God. ‘When I talk about not forgiving the dozen leaders of the Khmer Rouge, I include Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan, Leng Sary, and their entourage. They are the ones who had the plan of rid- ding the Khmer population of unwanted elements like people vwho were unable to work, people with ideas, or anyone who ‘would get in the way of transforming Cambodia into an agrat- jan society. Not only did they kill & massive number of people, but they destroyed all institutions including the family, religion, and education. We had to pledge allegiance only to Angka, the Khmer Rouge politburo. Pulling away from the Khmer Rouge leadership, I can for- give the soldiers of the Khmer Rouge, those who actually did the killing, alchough I can never forget what they did. Placed in Simon Wiesenthal’ position, I would have forgiven the soldier. ‘Why? Ihave always fele that the soldiers were trapped. Most of ‘them came from the jungle, were uneducated and very poor. They were taught to kill. They were brainwashed. More im- portantly, they were forced to kill If they dide‘t follow the or ders of the Khmer Rouge leadership, not only would they have been killed, bue theiz encize families would have been killed. They feared death. Tm not saying what the soldiers did was right and T'm not ar DITH PRAN offering them excuses, but at least I understand why they did swhat they did. I chink the key to forgiveness is understanding, 1 jase will never understand why the Khmer Rouge top leaders did what they did, What was the purpose? Where was their ho- sanity? They had the option to stop the killing, to give people ‘more than a spoonful of rice to eat, to end dhe fourteen to six seven days a weeks forced labor. Tt took an in- smamese army to stop their atrocities. Forgive or forget what the Khmer Rouge lead ership has done to my family. Would my siblings have been ruthlessly Killed if ic werentt for them? No. Cambodia had many years of peace before the civil war and eventual Khmer Rouge vietory, Would my father have died from starvation if it werent for the Khmer Rouge leaders? No. There was plenty of food in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge leadership decided to withhold ic from’the people. We need to Team to: separate the true oulprits from the pawns, the evil masterminds fiom the brainwashed. We cannot label everyone the same. There is a world of difference between the leadership of the Khmer Rouge and the individuals who followed their orders. Yes, none of them are motal beings, but there is.a chasm between someone who intentionally plots to destroy the very souls of people and someone who is not only seupid and brainwashed, but fears death enough (hich is very Juman) to be forced to do wrong. Teannot morally judge Simon Wiesenthal for silently walk- ing out of the room after the soldier asked for forgiveness. Bur | feel this action has nagged at him because he has asked others what they would have done in his place. I feel that forgiveness is a very personal thing, know some people won't understand 22 TERENCE PRITTIE sy thoughts om this. But ultimately we all have to answer to God for our actions and we have to live'with ourselves. TERENCE PRITTIE uff be had helped to perse- proffln of immense complexity Rise SS maxis conscience. If he d have done so to a priest of

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