Study Guide: The Sunflower (Simon Wiesenthal)



Study Guide: The Sunflower (Simon Wiesenthal)

I. Introduction: Put yourself in the position of a prisoner in a concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do? In The Sunflower, Simon Wiesenthal raises that question for readers to wrestle with, and they have been passionately doing so ever since.

II. Background: Read main section, but use web links for additional information.



1. In 1933, to what position was Hitler appointed?

2. What was Dachau and for what purposes was it used?

3. Beginning in 1933, how did the Nazis strip Jews of their rights? Be specific.

4. In 1934 was new title did Hitler assume?

5. What were the Nuremberg Laws? Give specific examples.

6. What was the Hitlerjugend? Use web link.

7. How did Hitler use the 1936 Olympics to promote Nazism? What was the irony of these games?

8. In 1938, what two countries did Hitler annex/occupy? Why?

9. What was Kristalnacht? Describe in detail.

10. In 1939, what event officially started WWII?



1. What was the first camp? When did it open? Whom did it first intern? Whom did it later intern?

2. What were the names of the six death camps?

3. What were the Einsatzgruppen? What was their purpose?

4. In September 1941, what did the Nazis first use to eradicate people?

5. What was the Nacht and Nebel order?

6. Who were the SS (Schutzstaffelor)? What was their uniform? Who was their leader?

SS in detail:

SS Testimonies:

7. What was meant by the Final Solution? When and where did the Final Solution go into full operation?

8. How did the Nazis hide their true plans?

9. What was the total number of Jewish lives destroyed at the camps?

10. When did the camps close and why?

* Explore the various photographs, maps, slide shows, tables, and Nazi correspondence via the web links.



1. What two needs emerged as WWII ended?

2. What were the Nuremberg Trials? When were they held? Who were the defendants? What was the charge? What were the outcomes and conclusions of these trials?

3. What immigration problems did displaced European Jews face?

4. On May 14, 1948, what did the Jews proclaim? What happened as a result?

5. What Nazi was criminal was captured in May 1960? What happened to him?

6. When discovered in 1997, what countries apparently collaborated with and benefited from the Nazi genocide?

7. At present, what is the most pressing factor in trying to right the wrongs perpetrated during the Holocaust? (Hint: one word).

Note: A creative quiz will test your knowledge of the above Holocaust people, places, and events.

III. Journal: Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty. In the Declaration of Independence, it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What do these words mean to you as an American citizen, a man or woman, and a human being? Discuss whether these rights come with strings attached (i.e. conditions, restrictions, exceptions and responsibilities).

IV. Reading Questions (Note that page numbers follow teacher edition and may slightly off from student edition.):

Part I (pp. 9-30)

1. List and describe each of the following characters: Arthur, Josek, and Simon.

2. Describe the Jewish prisoners’ living conditions.

3. According to Josek’s story, how was man created? (Recount the story)

4. Draw you own answers to Simon’s questions: “Were we truly all made of the same stuff? If so, why were some murderers and others victims?” (pg. 13). Your answer should attempt to get at the questions, “Are we ALL equal?”

5. What are Simon’s attitudes toward his God and his situation within the work camp?

6. Who are the “askaris”? Describe their personalities and attitudes toward the Jews.

7. What is particularly twisted about the askaris’ and the SS soldiers’ “love” of music?

8. How do the townspeople react to the sight of the Jewish prisoners?

9. For Simon, what do the sunflowers represent? (pg. 19-20) Answer must get at the symbolic significance of the sunflower.

10. Give an example of how did the anti-Semitic Polish students treat the Jewish students.

11. How did the “Radical elements” in Poland attempt to “force” Jewish students out of school?

12. What memories does Simon have as the Red Cross nurse leads him through the “Reserve Hospital”? To whom does she lead Simon?

Part II (pp. 31-58)

1. Because of time spent in the concentration camps, what does Simon not fear?

2. What memory does Simon recall about the lack of respect given to a dying Jewish prisoner?

3. According to Simon, how did many “Aryan” looking Jews save themselves from capture and certain death during WW2?

4. What happened to Simon’s mother? What was more than likely her final destination?

5. Describe the dying man (name, age, occupation, parents, childhood, religion, NAZI involvement, etc.).

6. Why has the dying man summoned Simon to the side of his deathbed?

7. What are some of the thoughts, feelings, and/or questions running through Simon’s mind as the dying man begins his story? (p.39)

8. What is the name of the Russian town in which Karl’s monstrous memory originate?

9. What horrendous crime(s) does Karl confess to Simon?

10. What heart-wrenching memory does Karl’s story trigger in Simon? What is so symbolically tragic about this memory for Simon?

11. What trick did the SS Group Leader, Katzmann, employ to round up the remaining children in the Jewish Ghetto? What became of the children?

12. How does Simon’s memories of lost children change his feelings toward the dying SS soldier?

13. What rationale does Karl give for his involvement in his now confessed horrific crimes.

14. According to Simon, who had taken the place of God in NAZI Germany? Who did the Germans say invented God?

15. What accident put the SS soldier in the hospital? What caused him to hesitate in the German assault on Tagamog?

16. Draw your own conclusions to Simon’s questions (pg. 55): “He sought my pity, but had he any right to pity? Did a man of his kind deserve anybody’s pity?” Answer should get at whether Karl is deserving of sympathy and/or pity.

17. What does the SS soldier ask of Simon? Why?

18. What is Simon’s “answer” to Karl’s final request?

Midpoint Discussion:

1. What are your initial reactions to Simon’s “answer”? Did Simon act rightly or wrongly? Should he have done something different?

2. Did he have the “right” to forgive the dying SS man? Do any of us have the “right” to forgive wrongs we, ourselves have not experienced? Are there times when forgiveness is understandably impossible?

Part III (pp. 58-78)

1. What “sad but characteristic story” do the newcomers tell Simon and the others? What was the Nazi purpose for such public executions? (pg. 60).

2. What did the rest of humanity have which the Jews did not?

3. What would happen to anyone who missed roll call?

4. How did the Nazis make room for newly arrived prisoners? What was the ultimate Nazi plan?

5. Where did prisoners await their certain execution? Describe.

6. What questions plague Simon about the prisoners in the “pipe” and the SS man?

7. What does he believe would be Arthur, the cynic’s, reaction? What is Arthur’s initial reaction?

8. What is Adam’s initial reaction? What is Adam’s family history?

9. What is Josek’s initial response? What is Simon’s counter-argument to this response?

10. What is Haolam Emes? How does Josek use this concept to answer Simon’s dilemma?

11. What does Arthur mean when he says, “A superman has asked a sub-human to do something which is superhuman”? Answer hinges on understanding the Nazi concept of Übermenschen and Untermenschen.

12. According to Arthur, “death is [a] constant companion.” Explain how Death is the only constant in life.

13. According to Simon, how did the native Poles feel about the Jews?

14. What has happened to the SS man? What does the nurse give Simon? What is his reaction?

15. Read carefully Arthur’s “speech” to Simon beginning with “If we survive this camp” to “We are indulging in a luxury...”. Discuss in detail Arthur’s philosophy about what is wrong or out of sync with the world at this time.

Part IV (pp. 78-85)

1. How many years have passed? What has happened to all the people Simon knew at the camp?

2. Where is Simon? What is certain to happen now?

3. According to Simon, what was planned for the prisoners as soon as the Americans approached the camp?

4. What image(s) haunt Simon?

5. Who is the new prisoner? Why does no one at Mathausen ask about anyone else’s past?

6. Describe the new prisoner’s background.

7. What are Bolek’s various points about what Simon could have done, did, and should have done for the SS man? (pp. 83-85).

Part V (pp. 85-96)

1. What happens to Simon? To Bolek? How does Simon feel about “restarting” his life?

2. In 1946, where do Simon and his wife go? What does Simon see there? Of what does it remind him?

3. While on his way to Munich, what does Simon decide to do? Why?

4. Describe post-war Stuttgart.

5. What lie does Simon make up about how he new her “good” son?

6. What does say about her husband’s opinion of Hitler and her son’s early involvement with the Nazis?

7. As Simon listens to her story, what does he conclude about how Germans and Austrians felt about Nazi socialism?

8. What does Simon conclude about the question of German guilt?

9. With what consolation did he want to leave her?

10. Why did Simon not tell this woman the truth about her son?

Part VI (pp. 96-99)

1. Even years later, how do the thoughts of Karl still haunt Simon?

2. What reflections does Simon have about “people like him”?

3. What does Simon recall about the Nazis during their trial at Stuttgart?

4. According to Simon, what does the world today demand?

5. When asked, “Was my silence at the bedside of the dying Nazi right or wrong?”, what does Simon say if the crux of the matter?

6. End Response: “You, who have just read this sad and tragic episode in my life, can mentally change places with me and ask yourself the same question, ‘What would I have done?’” What is your initial response to this overwhelming question? You answer here will lay the foundation for your formal essay on the questions of forgiving, forgetting, and remembering. Answer wisely and honestly.

V. Symposium Readings: Reading dates and essay selections given at novel’s end. In-class discussion will follow.

VII. Portfolio Assignment: The Sunflower (100 points)

Assignment: Write an essay in which you examine the complex topics of forgiving, forgetting, and remembering, in respect to the crimes committed during the Holocaust. In your essay, you MUST attempt to answer each of the questions Simon poses at the end of The Sunflower.

“Was my silence at the bedside of the dying Nazi right or wrong? Did I even have the right to forgive? What moral obligation do we have to remember? What should I have done?”

Requirements:

1. Answer each of the above questions in a logical organized essay.

2. Support each of your answers with personal opinion as well as opinion/facts from outside sources. Use at least (2) sources from the Symposium. You may also want to consider other religious, philosophical, and/or secular teachings when forming your opinions.

3. Use correct MLA citation (explained in class).

4. Essay should be 2-3 pages typed, double-spaced (no exceptions).

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