Journal 4-6/28/2010

Amy Blackman
Journal 4
On about page 26, we meet a dying Nazi soldier who asks the main character, Simon, a Jew imprisoned in a concentration camp, for forgiveness. He confesses to Simon, “I am dying,” “I shall die; there is nobody in the world to help me and nobody to mourn my death” (Wiesenthal 27). However, Simon reveals to us that he was unmoved by this dying mans words. Being forced to exist in a concentration camp had destroyed any feelings he may have once had, especially feelings or fear about death (Wiesenthal 26). However, he proceeds to listen to this man and even tries to get help for the dying Nazi soldier by a doctor.
He then reveals that he must confess to a Jew in order to die peacefully, “I am resigned to dying soon, but before that I want to talk about an experience which is torturing me. Otherwise I cannot die in peace” (Wiesenthal 27). He also reveals that he must confess of this “horrible deed” specifically to a Jew. In this particular section of pages, we do not know what particular crime this man committed. However, it probably deals with harsh treatment of Jews and by this he feels very guilty. In order to make up for this ill treatment of Jews, Karl must apologize and confess to a Jew of his evil doings. That is just my guess and what I foresee happening. At first, Simon seemed to be uneasy during Karl’s confession. He didn’t seem to even care about what Karl was saying and he even tried to leave. However, Karl kept pleading for him to stay. He hoped the Askari knew where he was so he would not get punished.
We later on learn that Karl feels as though he deceived his parents by being in the SS, especially his father. While Karl was still in Hitler Youth, his father barely spoke to him and when he did it was very cautious. It was as if his father knew that SS was going to change his son for the worse and his son failed to realize it at the time. His father even says, “They are taking are son away from us. No good will come of it” (Wiesenthal 32). Karl says that his mother “still sees him as a happy boy” (Wiesenthal 34). Clearly, this is not how Karl’s mother should be viewing him anymore. For this, Karl is also sorry and feels he must confess his guilt about this subject to someone as well. “His voice grew bitter as if he wanted to hurt himself, give himself pain” (Wiesenthal 34). He not only wanted to confess, he wanted to inflict pain on himself for his crime. I do not know this for sure, but I feel that Karl will confess to Simon of his crime. Simon will in turn feel something for the dying Nazi soldier, maybe even accept him. I’m excited to read more!