Sins

Q: In the Yom Kippur confessional prayer there are two items which are puzzling: “For the sin we have committed under compulsion” and "for the sin we have committed unwillingly.”  Surely there are no sins performed under duress or in total ignorance!?

A:  While it is true that an act carried out under compulsion is not sinful, it is entirely possible that the person enjoyed the forced act. Although he is blameless for the crime he committed, he can be blamed for the enjoyment of the opportunity to sin in and for this he must confess.

An example that comes to mind are the Kapos of the concentration camps under the Nazis.  People were often taken from lines slated for death and given responsibility to keep order in the barracks and follow all the orders of the S.S..  While compelled to follow the Nazis, the Kapos sometimes went beyond their orders and violence.

The other example you cited of sins committed “unwittingly” is called b’lo yodeim, in Hebrew, literally “without knowledge.”  This refers to those who sin in ignorance. They cannot be blamed for the actual sin because they were unaware that it was a sin of the time. Yet, they are held to blame for their ignorance as they had the means of overcoming their lack of knowledge