Forgiveness for a part in genocide

"when he wrote up the story 20 years later, he [Simon Wiesenthal] sent it to the brightest ethical minds he knew - Jew, Gentile, Catholic, Protestant, and irreligious. "What would you have done in my place?" he asked. "Did I do right?"

Of the 32 men and women who responded, only 6 said he had done wrong in not forgiving the German. Most thought he had done right. "What moral or legal authority did he have to forgive injuries done to someone else?" they asked. Some questioned the whole concept of forgiveness."

The incident that caused this questioning was being asked by a German soldier for forgiveness for the part he had played in killing Jews in Russia. There is a theological aspect to this also: how can God forgive wrongs done to others? -I don't fully know how to answer that one but I think it is important to pose it. I suspect that part of the response to it is to note that God is close to and values each human [well each part of creation in fact] and takes a personal interest in each and every. Like when we love someone who is hurt -it hurts us too. Though that doesn't tie it all up it does lay the basis for establishing a link between wronging other people and that being a sin in relation to God which needs God's forgiveness...

As I've only managed to get about half way through the various things I wanted to do on forgiveness during Lent I hope to continue through Eastertide.