Julia Schwartz
September 24, 2003
Would I have forgiven the dying SS man? No, I would not have. His situation to me seems strangely reminiscent of those who cry out to God when their lives are in danger – who cry “I’ll do anything, if only you’ll let me live!” and then live and do nothing. Just because the SS trooper is realizing the depth of his brutal actions as he dies, I don’t feel that he should be pardoned. When most people come to the end of their lives, they seek forgiveness for the wrongs they have committed, for no one wants to be remembered for bad things. Instead, we seek to exit the world seemingly as good as possible, be it because we fear the biblical Hell or we merely wish to leave a positive legacy.
I think it’s a good thing that the SS trooper at least realized that what he did to the Jews was a horrible sin upon mankind, yet my passions inflame me to the point where I can offer no forgiveness. The man killed hundreds of people, brutally, cruelly – in cold blood. There is no “I’m sorry” that will ever bring any of those lives back; there is no “oops” that can spin the wheels of time to change anything. No – those lives are gone forever, sacrificed to no higher purpose but pure, unadulterated, unfounded hatred.
I can’t forgive this dying SS trooper, nor can I forgive any of the Nazi soldiers – or even so many of the people who lived and knew and did nothing. I understand that my views are perhaps rigid, but there was no reason. There was no reason for such enormous carnage and destruction of life, and the pain of loss is all too real to me. Nazis killed my family, they killed my family’s friends, and they destroyed a people who never did anything wrong. Their hatred was unjustified, and I feel nothing but rage and sorrow toward them for the actions they carried out in the 1930s and 1940s. I can’t forgive.
As for this one particular SS trooper, in my mind, he had a choice. There was no one standing behind him as he launched grenades into a mother’s lap where a child should have been; there was no one standing behind him as he shot a father trying in a desperate attempt to salvage any of the life of his child; there was no one standing behind him as he chose to wreck so many beautiful lives with so much left to contribute. No, he did it on his own. Maybe it wasn’t his idea; maybe he didn’t fully endorse the concept; maybe he was the guy who said, “Are you sure we should do this?” when he was told of the plan – yet he still did it. He still contributed to the carnage and the gutting of life. He saw the fear in the eyes of so many innocent and what did he do? Nothing to help them. No, he just kept on going. He just kept on destroying lives.
I don’t understand what hatred could have possessed such men to commit such terror, but whatever it was, it was strong enough that they lost all regard for human life that was different than they. “Do unto others as others do unto you.” No, I don’t think Wiesenthal should have shot the dying man… but he deserves nothing. He doesn’t deserve a peaceful death after inciting so many terrified and brutal deaths. No, I would not accept his apology. I think Wiesenthal walking out on the man was very courageous of him, and I hope I would have had the decorum to do the same.