If there is a God, He will have to ask me for forgiveness.
Text carved by a Jewish prisoner on the wall of his cell during World War II.
How can one go on living after the atrocities of war, the horror of concentration camps, and the violence endured? Doesn’t forgiving mean forgetting or trivializing evil?
For some people, “you can’t forgive everything.” They believe that forgiveness would give criminals a free pass to do harm. Revenge or punishment is then seen as the preferred way to impose order, teach people hard lessons, and prevent repeat offenses.
The philosopher Vladimir Jankélévitch, a Holocaust survivor, is concerned that the desire to forget is creeping into the desire to forgive. For him, forgetting certain crimes would be committing another crime against humanity.
Examples throughout history show, however, that forgiveness is always a viable path to restoring human relationships and looking toward the future. Examples include the National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation, established in 1999 after the genocide in Rwanda, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions set up in more than 30 countries around the world.
In this same spirit, experiences of forgiveness—both on a personal and community level—point to a path that does not forget. Forgiveness is part of a broader process. Forgiving helps break the cycle of hatred and the desire for revenge.
Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, chose to believe in God and humanity despite everything. For him, forgiveness cannot come at the expense of memory and justice.
One must never forgive anything but the unforgivable.
Jacques Derrida