Forgiveness is not about absolving the perpetrators of their crimes, but about the victim’s letting go of the negative emotions associated with those memories and allow them to truly move on. Letting go can make it easier to share these experiences with other people allowing them to better understand you as a person, and understand the events themselves. In order to ask for forgiveness one must first analyze their own motives and actions.
Many people deal with damaging experiences by attempting to suppress the memories related to the event and move on with their lives. Doing this causes the memories to resurface at random times and can result in panic attacks. Others withdrawal from society, become risk takers, or move to another place to attempt to start over. Forgiveness is another method with which one can make peace with one’s past. Some argue that by allowing yourself to forgive the perpetrators you might forget what happened. When I think about this, the words of Holocaust survivor Michael Kor come to mind:
“I have forgiven the Germans, but not the stockade, not the wires, not the shouting and the yelling…
I don’t want to see them again.” (Forgiving Dr. Mengele).
In my opinion this means that although you may forgive the perpetrator you will never forget what they did to you and in some cases where they did it. This is especially true for those who have experienced events such as the Holocaust. The events involved can affect an individual’s life in such a way as to shape who they are. When such an event happens it can take a long time for the individual to come to terms with what happened. Sadly, Some never do.
Forgiveness can be a state of emotional enlightenment allowing the individual to unleash the pain associated with the event and help them to heal. I feel these powerful words of holocaust survivor Eva Kor express this best “Forgive your worst enemy, It will heal your soul and it will set you free” (“Forgiving Dr. Mengele”). In the documentary forgiving Dr. Mengele; Eva Kor discusses her journey to forgiving to Nazi’s in her name only, and how it allowed her to heal. In 1993, she met with the Nazi doctor Hans Munch to discuss Dr. Mengele records. Eventually she convinced him to sign a statement verifying the use of the gas chambers at Auschwitz, on the 50th anniversary of the liberation. Eva later decided that she would write Dr. Munch a letter forgiving him of the crimes he committed as a Nazi doctor. After doing this someone asked her if she would forgive Dr. Mengele, when she thought about this she decided to forgive all the Nazi’s. Forgiving Nazi’s gave her a feeling of power over the perpetrators and made her stronger. In order to forgive the Nazi’s, Eva said that she had to release the pain of those memories. This helped her to share her story with others.
Now we will look at the perpetrators and when they should ask for forgiveness. In order to ask for forgiveness one must first accept responsibility for their actions, admit they were wrong, and feel remorse. I feel the soldiers request for forgiveness from Simon Wiesenthal in his story The Sunflower, is hollow. Most likely he only wants forgiveness because he is dying and wants to have the burden of what he has done lifted from his shoulders. I feel that the reason he feels guilty is because he watched those people burn, I don’t believe he truly feels remorse for this act or that he was responsible for it, because he has killed and helped to kill many other people whose deaths he doesn’t seem to feel guilty for. The fact that he is even asking this of Simon shows that he just wants to hear the words and feel free. I find it appalling that he thinks he can just ask a random Jew to forgive his actions. On the other hand, if a person were to show true remorse for what they have done and sought atonement for their acts then they can ask for forgiveness. Deborah Lipstadt has this to say on the topic of forgiveness and atonement:
“Even if the prisoner had offered the soldier verbal forgiveness, that would not have resulted in an automatic cleansing of the slate. Such atonement would only have come when the guilty man had borne the consequences of his act and had demonstrated by his subsequent behavior that he had returned to that “place” he had occupied prior to committing his heinous crime (196).”
In other words, Someone can only truly be forgiven when they accept the punishment for their crime and never do it again. This does not mean that they should ask for forgiveness that depends on what they have done, as well as their own beliefs. However, whether forgiveness is granted depends solely on the individual there asking, and that individuals own opinions on forgiveness. I also believe that a person can only grant forgiveness on their own behalf for how the event affected them.
Forgiving is an act of healing on the part of the forgiver. It allows the forgiver to release their pain. For the person seeking forgiveness it requires that they acknowledge their wrong doing and in some way redeem themselves in the eyes of the forgiver. One must always pay the price for their wrong doings.
Many people deal with damaging experiences by attempting to suppress the memories related to the event and move on with their lives. Doing this causes the memories to resurface at random times and can result in panic attacks. Others withdrawal from society, become risk takers, or move to another place to attempt to start over. Forgiveness is another method with which one can make peace with one’s past. Some argue that by allowing yourself to forgive the perpetrators you might forget what happened. When I think about this, the words of Holocaust survivor Michael Kor come to mind:
“I have forgiven the Germans, but not the stockade, not the wires, not the shouting and the yelling…
I don’t want to see them again.” (Forgiving Dr. Mengele).
In my opinion this means that although you may forgive the perpetrator you will never forget what they did to you and in some cases where they did it. This is especially true for those who have experienced events such as the Holocaust. The events involved can affect an individual’s life in such a way as to shape who they are. When such an event happens it can take a long time for the individual to come to terms with what happened. Sadly, Some never do.
Forgiveness can be a state of emotional enlightenment allowing the individual to unleash the pain associated with the event and help them to heal. I feel these powerful words of holocaust survivor Eva Kor express this best “Forgive your worst enemy, It will heal your soul and it will set you free” (“Forgiving Dr. Mengele”). In the documentary forgiving Dr. Mengele; Eva Kor discusses her journey to forgiving to Nazi’s in her name only, and how it allowed her to heal. In 1993, she met with the Nazi doctor Hans Munch to discuss Dr. Mengele records. Eventually she convinced him to sign a statement verifying the use of the gas chambers at Auschwitz, on the 50th anniversary of the liberation. Eva later decided that she would write Dr. Munch a letter forgiving him of the crimes he committed as a Nazi doctor. After doing this someone asked her if she would forgive Dr. Mengele, when she thought about this she decided to forgive all the Nazi’s. Forgiving Nazi’s gave her a feeling of power over the perpetrators and made her stronger. In order to forgive the Nazi’s, Eva said that she had to release the pain of those memories. This helped her to share her story with others.
Now we will look at the perpetrators and when they should ask for forgiveness. In order to ask for forgiveness one must first accept responsibility for their actions, admit they were wrong, and feel remorse. I feel the soldiers request for forgiveness from Simon Wiesenthal in his story The Sunflower, is hollow. Most likely he only wants forgiveness because he is dying and wants to have the burden of what he has done lifted from his shoulders. I feel that the reason he feels guilty is because he watched those people burn, I don’t believe he truly feels remorse for this act or that he was responsible for it, because he has killed and helped to kill many other people whose deaths he doesn’t seem to feel guilty for. The fact that he is even asking this of Simon shows that he just wants to hear the words and feel free. I find it appalling that he thinks he can just ask a random Jew to forgive his actions. On the other hand, if a person were to show true remorse for what they have done and sought atonement for their acts then they can ask for forgiveness. Deborah Lipstadt has this to say on the topic of forgiveness and atonement:
“Even if the prisoner had offered the soldier verbal forgiveness, that would not have resulted in an automatic cleansing of the slate. Such atonement would only have come when the guilty man had borne the consequences of his act and had demonstrated by his subsequent behavior that he had returned to that “place” he had occupied prior to committing his heinous crime (196).”
In other words, Someone can only truly be forgiven when they accept the punishment for their crime and never do it again. This does not mean that they should ask for forgiveness that depends on what they have done, as well as their own beliefs. However, whether forgiveness is granted depends solely on the individual there asking, and that individuals own opinions on forgiveness. I also believe that a person can only grant forgiveness on their own behalf for how the event affected them.
Forgiving is an act of healing on the part of the forgiver. It allows the forgiver to release their pain. For the person seeking forgiveness it requires that they acknowledge their wrong doing and in some way redeem themselves in the eyes of the forgiver. One must always pay the price for their wrong doings.