The Face of Evil

   For Jewish confirmation class (much the same as a Christian confirmation) we read a book called The Sunflower.  This “true” story takes place in the middle of WWII and the author, Simon Wiesenthal, is a Jew in a concentration camp in Poland.  He is approached by a nurse.  The nurse brings him to a Nazi guard who wishes to apologize.  I’m not going to say what happened as the book is a really great 98 page read.
   As we talked through the complexities of the story, I found that I was the only one who would forgive the Nazi.  I couldn’t help but notice that, almost every story of the holocaust painted Nazis as monsters and Jews as helpless creatures.  I have no argument that the Jews were helpless creatures, the atrocities committed on them were horrible.  Bare with me, I believe a large number of The Nazis were equally as helpless.
   I couldn’t help but think that 95% of the people I was discussing this book would have joined the Nazi party had they been in the same position as the now expiring Nazi guard.  I know it seems taboo and terribly disrespectful to all the people who were brutally slaughtered, but I feel terrible for all the helpless children who were talked into the Holocaust.

   Before you judge me or my views, take a look at the sociological implications and basis for my response to the book, maybe look at the famous Zimbardo Prison Experiment in a Stanford University basement, pictured to the left.