Essential question answered by someone who died by Titanic

     Hello, my name is Brad.  I am dead.  I died on the Titanic more than 100 years ago.  Do I forgive the operators of the Titanic for killing me?  Forgiving these people is a hard thing to do.  They were responsible for so many deaths, including my own.  Most of these people who have been blamed were not directly responsible though.  The captain was just trying to make it to america in time, because his job was on the line.  The crew were trying to fill up the lifeboatsas fast as they could, and also trying to save themselves.  No one can blame them for trying to save their own lives, just about anyone would have done that.  I do forgive all these people because they all just made a few mistakes.  Everyone has those days.

Guilt by Association

      Is a member of society guilty for the crimes commited by its leaders?  This question is brought up by Wiesenthal when he tells the old lady that "no German can shrug off the responsibility"(93).  He sais this after the lady says, "We are not responsibe for their fate"(92).  But who is responsible for their fate?  Of course hitler and his advisors would have to be, but should the rest of the population?  What about other countries who did not even participate in WW2 but saw these attrocities happening right before their eyes?  Are they to blame as well? 
     I beleive instead of pointing fingers, we should all seek resolution.  The old lady Simon was talking to, she should be able to believe that she was not to blame.  She didn't herself execute Jews, but she did stand idley by while Jews were killed.  I wasn't even born and you could blame me almost as much as you could blame that old lady.  I didn't execute any Jews, yet I didn't do anything to stop them.
     So this brings up the question, if a person didn't to anything should they still be blamed for a crime someone they were associated with?  I wouldn't want to get blamed for someone elses crimes, but is it a crime not to stop their crime?  Is it a crime to not stop them when you yourself could get hurt by doing so?  I know this is a lot of questions, but was that not the purpose of the book?
   

Anticipation guide over forgiveness: Man or Machine?

In the case of the scientist who developed a biological weapon that could kill thousands, I believe that this man deserves forgiveness.  Even though no one "deserves" forgiveness, I believe that we should forgive anyways.  This scientist was probably just messing around in the lab and made some weapons.  Should he be punished for this?  I don't think so.  I will not condemn this man for doing he job.