News Can A Suvivor Be Asked Not To Forgive? (eva Kor)

[Deleted member 28812]

Did you hear about Eva Kor? She is a Holocaust survivor who seemed to have forgiven the concentration camp wardens. Other survivors seem to think that this is wrong. They have scolded her for it. I am not sure if this is the whole story. I actually just know because I heard people discuss this case and saw them discuss it online.

My first reaction was: How can they critisize her for forgiving? But then I am not a concentration camp survivor. What is your opinion?

 

[Fadeaway]

It's weird because I can see both sides. I don't feel like I have the right to judge either view. They are both survivors and both entitled to make the decision to forgive or not themselves. Some people have a greater capacity to forgive than others.

 

[Deleted member 28812]

That was not my question ;)
So my question is not if a person must forgive but if he or she can be asked NOT not forgive.

 

[Fadeaway]

I know. I gave the best answer I could to a question I couldn't answer.I don't want to say they don't have the right not to ask her....

 

[Mit]

The supposition that one person or group can't ask or tell another not to forgive is a bizarre concept. It's an entirely personal matter Isn't it? Other people might not be able to forgive, or share the view of those that can, but it's every individuals right to choose, in my opinion.

Otherwise it's akin to telling people how to think and feel, which is probably the type of thinking that contributed to the holocaust in the first place.

 

[joeylittle]

but if he or she can be asked NOT not forgive.

Well, sure, but that doesn't mean either side has to listen. I think you might mean, more specifically, "is it ethically/morally acceptable to condemn someone for forgiving monsters - and is the situation different if everyone has suffered at the hands of the same monsters."

In this case, it seems to be perceived as changing sides, and a betrayal of a shared experience.

But I don't think anyone has the power except to ask. It makes me think of abortion protesters. They are very loudly asking women to not go into that clinic. Do they have the right? Yep. Do I think they are right to do so? Nope. I disagree with them. But I can't stop them from speaking their piece, much as I wish I could.

I think if Eva was denouncing the Holocaust, it would be very, very different. She would be publicly trying to re-write history. But taking her own steps towards healing in the way she chooses, that's her call - no-one else's.

 

[Friday]

Anyone can ask me anything. It doesn't obligate me to answer. Much less answer in the way they want.

The right to tell me to do something, on the other hand, is a privilege reserved for very few: those I respect & those who hold power or overpower me.

 

[Deleted member 28812]

Off topic... I have never been in a concentration camp... but I don't think that they are monsters. It's just my personal opinion... there are persons who will act very bad but they are still human. Saying "they are monsters" makes it way to easy... because it moves this kind of violence out of the realm of normal human behaviour... and it is not.
There are experiments like Stanford prison or the milgram experiment which show that very normal people will act in a monsterous way.

When I say this I am not talking about the concentration camp survivors or the people who worked there. I am talking about the rest of us. People like me or you. We could have a discussion like this "Too bad what this monsters did" "Yeah, but fortunately we aren't monsters and will never act like that. Problem solved". The point is: The persons who did this were human being just like us which means that we under certain circumstances might act just like this.

 

[Friday]

I'm a monster. Most of the time I'm just fine with that. It is what it is. Sometimes I kick over it. And sometimes it's nice to have a monster on side.

"Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies."
- Edna St. Vincent Millay

 

[Deleted member 28812]

I don't understand what you are saying. Sorry. Could you explain this in other words?

 

[shimmerz]

"they are monsters" makes it way to easy... because it moves this kind of violence out of the realm of normal human behaviour... and it is not.

@Lemontree , clearly you didn't live with my bio parents. Then you would believe in monster people. It is actually quite easy; monsters have no soul, no conscience, no heart. They are human biologically, but they are an entirely different breed.

 

[Mit]

Sorry, my previous post was intended to read "....one person or group can ask". not "can't". Smart phone yes, smart operator no!