The story of Oskar Schindler and the more than 1,100 Jews he spared from imminent death during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany during World War Two is told in the film Schindler’s List.[1] To do this, he compiled a list of Jewish employees at his enamelware firm and then spent all of his earnings to purchase every Jewish employee to save as many lives as possible. Oskar Schindler, a well-known actor, travels to Krakow in 1939 to take advantage of chances that may help him become rich1. He hoped to benefit from the conflict that was going on at the time. Since the war had just recently begun, Schindler regarded this as an excellent chance to capitalize on the situation. He joined the Nazi party with the idea that they would assist him in carrying out his political tasks, and he was accurate.
Later, he decides to hire Jews to fill available positions in his business since he knows he can offer them cheap money, and they would continue to work for him. The events shown in the film take place in Krakow, Poland, during the Second World War, when Krakow was home to most of Poland’s Jewish community. Poland had the biggest Jewish population in Europe at the time. The film focuses on accurately portraying the Holocaust and the events leading up to it and gently and deliberately conveys hope via its protagonist. As a result, this essay aims to provide recommendations on how to do film research.[2]
Claims in the Holocaust
Schindler’s List is a particularly moving film due to its portrayal of the atrocities committed against Jews during World War I. The film Schindler’s List tells the story of Oskar Schindler, who hired a Jewish man as his accountant during the Holocaust. Money was not particularly essential at this time since the Soviet Union had confiscated everything from them; consequently, he had his accountant seek other Jews to invest in his enterprise. In exchange, he will give them pots, pans, cigarettes, and other trade things 2. The Soviet Union forced these Jews to go, but they could not take many of their possessions with them. They were forced to live in these areas, known as Ghettos A and B, where they shared a tiny space with 12 unknown people. After that, they were taken to a camp, stripped of all their belongings, made to work, and forced to live in deplorable circumstances, with hundreds of people sleeping in each room.
Whether Jews were unable to work, conversed with the SS, or the SS just felt like murdering them at the moment, they were slaughtered by the SS. Many Jews were sheltered in Oskar Schindler’s workplace during the Holocaust. They were safe while Schindler was in charge. Schindler quickly recognized that by working diligently to ensure his company’s survival, he was also protecting the lives of innocent people. After seeing the SS’s atrocities against Jews, he became determined to rescue as many lives as possible. Even though it was very hot outside and the Jews were travelling by train, he was exceptionally polite to them, offering each one a bottle of water. The Jews would be transferred from Krakow to Auschwitz, where the majority would be killed. Schindler then purchased 1,100 Jews, preventing them from being sent to and dying at Auschwitz. The Jews owed Schindler enormous gratitude for saving their lives and their children’s lives from the horrors of war. Schindler was forced to engage in questionable commercial practices to expand and manage his organization. He had a reputation as a mysterious character after the war, but over time, he earned a reputation as a lovely man.
This film powerfully depicts the atrocities done against Jews during the Holocaust. They were treated as if they had made no contribution to the world and had no worth in its eyes. They were murdered for no other reason than the SS’s willingness to murder for pleasure. They were separated from their families and everything and everyone they cared about. They were driven to live in dreadful conditions. They were fed a deficient diet and had their hair shaved off. They were instructed to do their physical by undressing and running. They were stripped naked and brought into a large room without knowing whether they would be murdered. They had no power or voice and made no valuable contributions to the world during this period. Schindler was one of the rare people who treated the Jews with compassion rather than as if they were rodents. [3]
Summary And Overview of The Movie
The gripping epic of the film Schindler’s List tells the story of the Nazi regime’s brutal Holocaust during World War II, as well as the redemption of a German businessman who participated in the Holocaust. Oskar Schindler was a driven businessman who transferred his family to Krakow, Poland, in 1939, to make a fortune supplying supplies for the Nazi war machine1. He bought an enamelware firm with the goal of selling its wares to front-line combat soldiers after collecting monies from Jewish businesspeople whose enterprises were taken by the Nazis. Schindler was a Nazi Party member with a large network within the Nazi leadership1. The economic office approached him with a proposal: instead of paying native Polish employees’ salary, Schindler could pay the government about half of that amount to hire Jewish slave labor from the ghetto. Schindler accepted the suggestion.
Schindler immediately accepted the offer, and he and Itzhak Stern, his Jewish accountant, co-founded their firm. Schindler’s major focus was profit at first, but after interacting with his Jewish employees, he started to adopt a new perspective3. On March 13, 1943, Schindler stood on a nearby hill in agony as Nazi soldiers attacked the Jewish ghetto and slaughtered anybody who was not necessary to the German war effort. During the Holocaust, Schindler was murdered. Schindler’s heart started to alter from that day on, and he began the process of changing from a ruthless businessman to a caring humanitarian. Schindler’s workshop became widely recognized as a safe haven, a location where people could seek sanctuary from the severity of the Nazi guards and camp commander[4]. Schindler worked out an agreement with Stern that allowed him to recruit a large number of new people from inside the concentration camp. He also started treating his staff with greater respect. Schindler was imprisoned once for kissing the cheek of a young Jewish girl he met at his birthday celebration after she presented him with a cake on behalf of the factory employees2. He was able to persuade the authorities to release him because to his acquaintance with Commandment Goth. When the Nazis started to lose the war and the tide of the struggle shifted, a desperate leadership ordered that all Jews imprisoned in Poland be moved immediately to Auschwitz Concentration Camp. This order included Jews who had worked under Schindler.
Oskar Schindler knew that anybody who entered the concentration camp would die in the gas chamber or the oven. He bargained with the authorities while also pleading with them. In the end, he was able to persuade The Goth to let him pay a premium for each of his employees personally1. He and Stern remained for what seemed like days, building a list of everyone they might possibly help. Schindler, who was quite wealthy at the time, spent his whole salary by hiring as many staff as he could and entirely destroyed the cash, he had worked so hard to get. Schindler’s spending spree lasted till his death5. He subsequently established a weapons manufacturing plant in his hometown. He purposefully mis calibrated the equipment and took it upon himself to ensure that none of the weapons manufactured at his factory fired as intended. Owing to his Nazi party membership, Oskar Schindler, who was destitute at the time, was forced to flee at the conclusion of the war[5]. Each worker personally contributed to the creation of a letter emphasizing his bravery and innocence, and each worker signed the letter. After his death, Oskar Schindler was laid to rest atop Mount Zion in Jerusalem, which the Jewish people regard as a hallowed site. He is still the only member of the Nazi Party who has received this honor. Because of his bravery and kindness, Schindler was able to rescue the lives of over 1,200 innocent Jewish people.
Reflection
One of the most surprising aspects of the story is Schindler’s initial lack of concern for the Jews he hired and his perception of them as a source of cheap labor. It’s encouraging to observe Schindler’s change as he understands Jews are unique individuals whose lives cannot be measured in monetary terms. A young Jewish girl dressed in a crimson cloak represents this change5. The girl stands out in the movie due of her colorful coat, which is the sole color in her otherwise monochromatic moments (the others are black and white). Schindler’s attitude toward his workers begins to alter once he meets her for the first time, and he initiates his first clandestine steps to assist his people4. At the second glimpse of the girl, Schindler transforms into a truly selfless person, suggesting that he is really committed to assisting the persecuted Jews he hires. Eventually, he spends all of his company’s profits in an effort to spare Jews from annihilation in Auschwitz.
The fact that Oskar Schindler was able to change his mind about Jews and eventually save over a thousand of them says a lot about the actions, or lack thereof, of the other people who did nothing while the Nazis committed the worst genocide in human history. This conclusion is based on Schindler’s capacity to change his attitudes against Jews and, as a result, save the lives of over a thousand people 4. One may argue that Oskar Schindler was able to do what he did because of his wealth and position, but believing that you are inconsequential because you are just one person does not create history or change the world.
The story of Schindler’s List, as told in Steven Spielberg’s film, is moving and teaches numerous important truths. At the film’s finale, Schindler sobs as he wonders how many lives he might have spared if he had just sold his car or a gold pin. He could have spared maybe fifteen more lives, which may seem little in comparison to the more than six billion people massacred by the Nazis during the Holocaust, but Schindler regards each human as a precious, living, breathing individual. For me, the little girl in the red coat signified a person with a history and a life that was cut short before it could develop4. Because of the enormous number of people killed, it is easy to gloss over the statistic without realizing that it refers to 6 million individuals who previously had lives – people with hopes and dreams, friends and family, a past, and unfulfilled potential. By concentrating on a single life, we can see the bigger picture more clearly, since it is much simpler to realize that the massive population we are watching is made up of multiple distinct individuals.
Critical Thinking
The video assesses my ability to think critically about the repercussions of people’s actions on other people, as well as the ramifications of people’s inactivity. The Second World War defined the twentieth century and killed the vast majority of Europeans. German forces promptly captured the Polish Armed Forces in September 1939, and Jews were subsequently required to register every family member and relocate to larger cities. Almost ten thousand Jews from the surrounding area came in Krakow every day (Spielberg, 1993). To carry out the dictatorship’s commands in Krakow, the Jewish Council was made up of 24 Jews who were appointed to positions of individual responsibility. Their duties included the development of employment lines, housing lines, and food lines. A location where complaints may be filed. To avoid their death or deportation to extermination camps by the SS, the vast majority of Jewish employees were judged crucial to the German war effort. This initiative was successful. Thousands of Jews were murdered in the streets by the SS, while others were sent to Plaszow.
Thousands of houses and other forms of physical capital were destroyed over years of on-the-ground combat. Individuals were often persecuted and discriminated against. The commandants sought payments from Jewish laborers, while other employees were beaten and treated as property1. The highest echelons of government were aware that people were being persecuted during the Holocaust, yet they did nothing to stop it. The video seems to be an accurate picture of life during the Holocaust, both in terms of Nazi cruelty and the lives of the persecuted5. Goth was cruel to the Jewish women who worked for him, and he would murder Jews at random from his balcony, placing the inmates in continual terror for their lives.
Analysis And Conclusion
Extended separations between families occurred, and the majority of children lost their dads as a result of the war’s tragedies. As a result of this strategy, Jewish residents were deprived of their possessions and forced to live in ghettos. As more Germans enrolled in the war, the need for slave labor soared. “Schindler’s List” traces the lives of around 850 people who were transported to Brunnlitz rather than Auschwitz. Schindler was forced to pay an Auschwitz officer in order to free the girls and women who had been sent there by mistake. With the establishment of the sub-camp on factory premises, however, Schindler started to show care for the Jewish employees as persons5. This happened when he formed feelings for the Jewish employees. Schindler’s protection of them, as well as their employment as bright and respected workers, enabled him to spare their lives. Their lives improved overall after he helped them in a variety of ways. As men and women were no longer segregated, the nutritional value of the food they ate rose. When Schindler prohibited the SS guards from entering the camp, they were sent to watchtowers.
Schindler was also in charge of encouraging Jewish employees at the new site to keep Shabbat. Despite being instructed to assassinate the Jewish workers, Schindler persuaded the SS guards stationed at his store to return home as men rather than as killers. The video shows worldwide viewers how one individual’s actions may impact the behavior of others. Humans are capable of overcoming their anger and finishing the mission even when confronted with the worst of mankind. Humanity’s existence is dependent on the creation of a world that is more accepting of varied ideas and cohesively structured.
Bibliography
Burleigh, William. “Commentary: Why ‘Schindler’s List’ Remains Brilliant and Troubling 25 Years after Its Release.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, December 5 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-schindlers-list-25-20181205-story.html.
GOTTLIEB, AKIVA. “Commentary: Why ‘Schindler’s List’ Remains Brilliant and Troubling 25 Years after Its Release.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-schindlers-list-25-20181205-story.html.
Hellerman, Jason. “How Did Steven Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List’ Change World History?” No Film School, No Film School, May 10 2021, https://nofilmschool.com/schindlers-list-american-history.
Spielberg, S. (1993). Schindler’s List. Amblin Entertainment Universal Pictures.
Thompson, Anne. “From the EW Archives: How Steven Spielberg Brought ‘Schindler’s List’ to Life.” EW.com, 1994, https://ew.com/article/1994/01/21/spielberg-and-schindlers-list-how-it-came-together/.
[1] Burleigh, William. “Commentary: Why ‘Schindler’s List’ Remains Brilliant and Troubling 25 Years after Its Release.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, December 5 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-schindlers-list-25-20181205-story.html.
[2] GOTTLIEB, AKIVA. “Commentary: Why ‘Schindler’s List’ Remains Brilliant and Troubling 25 Years after Its Release.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2018, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-schindlers-list-25-20181205-story.html.
[3] Hellerman, Jason. “How Did Steven Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List’ Change World History?” No Film School, No Film School, May 10 2021, https://nofilmschool.com/schindlers-list-american-history.
[4] Spielberg, S. (1993). Schindler’s List. Amblin Entertainment Universal Pictures.
[5] Thompson, Anne. “From the EW Archives: How Steven Spielberg Brought ‘Schindler’s List’ to Life.” EW.com, 1994, https://ew.com/article/1994/01/21/spielberg-and-schindlers-list-how-it-came-together/.
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