Should the Holocaust be forgiven?

I must begin this post with a note. I'm not Jewish. I'm not Semitic, I'm not Protestant, I'm not Catholic, I'm not a gypsy, and I'm certainly not gay. In providing my opinion, I could be accused of "just not understanding the psychological issue," or I could be giving it a totally objective standpoint.

It's been forgiven before.

But, should it?

Some say yes, many others say no. Forgiveness is a complicated aspect of psychology which deals with many aspects of the human psyche. The consensus in psychological literature has reached a consensus that forgiveness is a process. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language has a clear definition of forgiveness:

1. To excuse for a fault or an offense; pardon. 2. To renounce anger or resentment against. 3. To absolve from payment of (a debt, for example). These verbs mean to refrain from imposing punishment on an offender or demanding satisfaction for an offense. The first three can be used as conventional ways of offering apology. More strictly, to forgive is to grant pardon without harboring resentment: “Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them” (Oscar Wilde).

For our purposes, definitions 1 and 2 will be referred to the most.

However, there are also many different aspects in forgiving the Holocaust. One possible definition is the forgiveness of the people who could have prevented the Holocaust yet out of self-preservation chose to act as a bystander.

Another possible definition is the forgiveness of the Nazi's actions and decisions which led and fueled the Holocaust. These may include those who knowingly performed direct actions that led to the persecution of Jews. Nazi concentration camp officials may fall into this category of forgiveness.

Yet another definition is the forgiveness of all Nazis and all involved in the persecution of Jews, in some cases even Hitler himself. In some cases, people find it necessary to separate the individual people as Nazis, from the Third Reich Nazi party, as many people see individual forgiveness different from forgiving an entire society, even if individual forgiveness is universally inclusive. This isn't a particularly popular viewpoint.

I have a pretty confusing job in front of me in constructing an essay out of this. This better outline it well.

Photo: The railway tracks of the Auschwitz concentration camp are illuminated with fire in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. AP.