Simon
The reason that many of the architects of Hitler's "final solution" were apprehended and brought to justice is Simon Wiesenthal. He gained a reputation as an angel of justice and became possibly the most famous Nazi hunter in the world.
In this book, his focus is on one particular encounter with one SS commander. Although the only information he offers about himself is that he once went to technical school to study architecture, we learn that he used to live in the Jewish ghetto, he used to be more optimistic and he used to have a stronger, more unshakeable faith, until his circumstances chipped away at both his faith and his optimism. However, his actions in this story show him to be a man of thought, and a man of compassion. There is a moment in his encounter with Karl where he gently swats a fly away from him, an act of kindness.
Although Simon walks out of the room without forgiving Karl, he is troubled for many decades about this decision and does not know if it was the right one. He again shows his compassion by visiting Karl's mother after the war, and by keeping the details of her son's actions to himself so that he does not rob her of her pleasant memories of her only child. He did not offer forgiveness, but he is not a man of vengeance either. He has an open heart and is both gentle and humane.
Karl
Karl is a German SS officer who has been a loyal Nazi since he was a young boy. When Simon meets him he is bandaged head to toe. He has been mortally wounded by a shell exploding next to him as he climbed out of a trench on the front line in Crimea, Russia. We learn a lot about him as he asks for Simon's forgiveness.
Karl was raised a Catholic but abandoned his faith when he started to believe in Hitler more than in God. He joined the Hitler Youth against his parents' wishes, and as soon as he is old enough becomes an SS soldier. He and others from his unit pack three hundred Jews into a building and set fire to it. When he sees a family trying to escape by jumping from a window he shoots and kills them. He is haunted by what he did and Simon believes he is genuinely repentant.
However, despite his repentance he has not changed in the way he sees others, particularly Jews. His need for forgiveness is about him, and he still does not consider Simon's circumstances in any way. He remains a repentant Nazi, rather than a changed one.
Karl's Mother
Karl's mother is a Catholic woman who loves her son very much. She and her husband did everything that they could to dissuade him from joining the Hitler youth. She still remained in touch with him once he was at war, unlike her husband who disowned him all together. She believes that at his core Karl was a good man and because she was not guilty of any of the Nazi's crimes, Simon chooses to let her continue to believe that. She is already lonely as her husband was killed in a factory bomb and she has no other family. She is guilty of looking the other way, though, part of a nation of people who chose not to see what Hitler was doing.
Arthur
Arthur and Simon were lifelong friends who ended up at the same death camp together. Like Simon, Arthur was a devout Jew whose faith is now shaken. He is constantly irritated by Josek's unwavering belief. Arthur despises all Germans because he believes they did nothing to prevent the rise of the Nazi party and that they allow Hitler to continue his final solution. Arthur dies in the camp of typhus.
Josek
A businessman before the war, Josek is sometimes jokingly called "Rabbi" because of his tendency to use his experiences in the camp as a teachable moment. HIs faith never wavers. He agrees that Simon was correct not to offer forgiveness because he believes that one man cannot forgive a crime against another. He is murdered at the camp; when he is too tired and sick to stand he is shot.
Bolek
A Polish man who was studying to become a priest, Bolek is rounded up with other Poles from the ghetto and sent to Mauthausen where he meets Simon. Bolek believes that if Karl was truly repentant then Simon should have forgiven him because Karl had nobody else to ask.
