...Schindler’s List During the 1940’s the Holocaust stood in full effect, taking millions of Jews and placing them in concentration camps. By the end of the Holocaust the Nazi’s had killed over 6 million Jews. Resulting in only a small population of four thousand Jews left in Poland today, but to this day a generation of six thousand Jews lives because of one man. This man took into his safety 1,100 Jews, keeping them alive past the Holocaust, allowing them to grow and start new lives. In the movie Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg, Oskar Schindler risks his life to save the Jews not only for his own egotistical needs, but to also help the Jews he has come to know. For Oskar Schindler, saving the Jews comes as an act of egotism, saving them for his own personal gain. In the beginning, Oskar solely operates on popularity, gaining his power and prosperity in this manner. The movie introduces Oskar as a “victimizer” (Ebert), gaining his popularity by conning and bribing the Nazi’s. By giving the Nazi officers lavishing gifts such as champagne and cigars, Oskar works his way up the social ladder, making himself quite known in the Nazi community. In addition, with this respect, Schindler starts to use his power and popularity to his own advantage. As commented in Ebert’s review, because of Oskar’s popularity the “authorities are happy to help him open a factory to build enameled cooking utensils that army kitchens can use.” This allows Oskar to set up his factory and...
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...One of the greatest historical novels to be written in the 20th century, Schindler’s List is a true masterpiece written by Thomas Keneally several years after World War II. The book is set during World War II when Germany was under the reign of Adolf Hitler. Keneally, an Australian based writer was inspired to write the book by Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. Published in the year 1982, the book is a remarkable piece of literature that has won many awards including the Booker Prize in 1982. Keneally began his writing career as a writer who wrote ordinary books until he met Poldek Pfefferberg, the man who encouraged him to write Schindler’s List. Pfefferberg met Keneally in one of his stores and requested him to write the book, to raise awareness relating to the Holocaust system and the misery of thousands of Jews under the Nazis. At the same time, Keneally wanted the world to know about the good deeds of one man over evil. It was later made into a film in 1992, which won many academy awards as well. Schindler’s List tells the tale of a remarkable German businessman, Oskar Schindler, who with his wealth and manipulating abilities helps save the lives of thousands of Jews from being terminated by the Nazis. Keneally takes us back to 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and occupied its territory. Their extreme hatred towards the Jews forms one of the themes of this book. The Nazi soldiers were ordered to round up the Jewish families, separate the men and the...
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...Schindler’s List Essay Oskar Schindler would never have been anyone’s ideal savior, especially for the Jewish community. He was an open member of the Nazi party, a womanizer, a gambler, an alcoholic, and an extremely money hungry man, but insight of all of this he was successfully able to rescue over twelve hundred Jewish men and women from death. Schindler was a very tall and handsome man. Needless to say, he was adored by all the young women he met eyes with. However, Schindler fell for a beautiful young girl named Emily. After only six weeks of courtship, they were married. Sadly, after only a few months of marriage, Schindler began to heavily abuse alcohol. He also had several affairs resulting in two children out of wedlock. In 1929, during the Great Depression, the Schindler family business went bankrupt. At this time, Schindler’s father left his mother, and she died soon after. Finding himself jobless, Schindler sought work in nearby Poland as a machinery salesman. The saving of the first Schindler Jews began in 1939, when he came to Krakow in the wake of the German invasion. In Krakow, he took over two previously Jewish owned companies that dealt with the manufacture and sales of kitchenware products. In one of the businesses, however, Schindler was merely a trustee. Looking more for his own power, he opened up a small enamel shop right outside of Krakow near the Jewish ghetto. Here, he employed mostly Jewish workers. This in turn saved them from being...
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...Moshe Katsav once said, “The Holocaust is not only a tragedy of the Jewish people, it is a failure of humanity.” In the years 1939 through 1945, a horrendous event took place that affected Germany and the world. Those were the years of the Holocaust, the genocide of Jewish people during the reign of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. The atrocity is still remembered today and a film was made to ensure that no one forgets what happened and how it impacted people. Schindler's List is a film that takes place throughout Germany and focuses on a man named Oskar Schindler, a businessman who befriends the Nazi party for his own personal benefits. He owns a factory and employs Jewish workers and a Jewish accountant in order to take care of his business for him. As World War II progresses, Schindler does his best to keep his workers, unintentionally saving them. He soon faces the dilemma to stand-by and watch Jewish people die, or to save them at the cost of risking himself. Oskar Schindler reshaped himself from a materialistic and selfish person, to a man of indifference towards anti-Semitism, into finally becoming an ethical, selfless person....
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...leader, then they become a model ethical leader. The way one interprets leadership is not only formed by the world one lives in, but by the different situations one faces. With the world rapidly changing, the way one views a leader is changing as well. Several famous, well-known, individuals are thought of when one thinks of leadership. Oskar Schindler, a man who surrendered his reputation and money; who risked his own life in order to save lives of a people deemed his enemy is the perfect example of what an ethical leader is. A man, laden with faults and bad luck, rose above what was normal and did what was right. Oskar Schindler, recognizing the undeniable and horrific intentions of the Nazi Party, rebelled against the appalling acts that the Nazis committed during the Holocaust of World War II. He donated his entire income to save as many Jews as he could, experiencing greater achievement and prosperity compared to his failed business attempts as a factory owner. Due to his heroic actions, Schindler saved over 1,000 Jews from certain death. His bravery warrants praise for having risked everything dear to him, even his own life, in order to save those hated most. Schindler is an admired and ethical leader, but what makes him this way? Within this paper, we will analyze and discuss not only who Schindler was, but his motivation to save so many Jews, and,...
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...Oskar Schindler was born in 1908 in the city of Zwittau, Moravia which is now part of the Czech Republic. Oskar grew up and attended a German-language school. Oskar's mother, Louisa Schindler, was a homemaker father, and Oskar’s father, Hans Schindler, was a factory owner . Oskar had one younger sister named Elfriede.. when Oskar was child, Schindler was popular and had many friends, but he was not a good student at all. In the middle of his friends were two sons of a rabbi. In the 1920s Schindler worked for his father selling farm equipment. In 1928, Oskar married a young woman named Emilie which caused problems in Oskar and his dad’s relationship which eventually led to Oskar leaving the family business. Meanwhile, the political landscape in Europe was undergoing major changes, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party began their rise to power. Hitler began stirring up ethnic feelings among the Sudeten Germans, pointing out that their "rightful" ties were with Germany, not Czechoslovakia. By 1935 many Sudeten Germans joined the pro-Nazi Sudeten German Party. Schindler joined, too—not out...
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...It is a 1993 American drama film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand (1100) Polish Jewish refugees during the Holocaust of World War II by employing these people in his factories. Oskar is just like most men. He has a love for good wine, beautiful women, and pursues happiness through the success of his business. But on his journey to a successful business, millions of Jews (6 millions) were being killed during a time which most label as one of the darkest periods of human history. What does “Schindler’s List” stand for? It stands for the Jewish workers that Schindler bought from the German officer, Goeth, to work in his factory, the 1100 Jewish people that he saved eventually. Who were the best performing characters of the movie? Liam Neeson does well (as Oskar Schindler), but in particular I liked Ben Kingsley (as Istak Stern, Schindler's accountant) and Ralph Fiennes (as Amon Goeth, the camp commandant). All of the performances were very convincing and reflect the good casting. What was the color of the movie? The color of the movie was mostly in black and whit. Black and white give a historical connotation to the movie which in my opinion made it very distinctive. There were a very few colorized scenes though (the Jews praying at the beginning/ the Jews putting small rocks on Schindler’s grave) Why do we still make movies about world war II? The story of the Holocaust needs to be told over and over again, in...
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...Schindler’s List was released in 1993 and directed by Steven Spielberg. Based on historical events it’s set during the Holocaust and about Oskar Schindler, a man who saved many Jews from death. Night was written by Elie Wiesel about his life when going through the Holocaust as a Jew. These two forms of art about the Holocaust are similar when looking at the big picture, with self conflict, violence, and optimism, but once you get down to the details they definitely have their differences. Schindler, the main character of Schindler’s List, has a conflict within himself when it comes to saving the Jews and having money, girls, and alcohol. While Elie’s obviously in a different situation because he’s the oppressed, not the oppressor, so he doesn’t have enough power to actually be able to save anyone. But his conflict also lies within him. Throughout the entire book he’s moving back and forth in his belief of God....
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...Oskar Schindler was portrayed as an extremely dynamic character throughout the movie, since his identity was subject to many drastic changes. In the beginning of the story, we were introduced to a dark and despicable man. A rich business tycoon who was identified for his multiple affairs, as well as his active participation in the Nazi party. Even though he did not follow the ideologies of the fascist group and joined solely for the purpose of gaining riches, he still provided aids to the Germany Army through his numerous factories and businesses. This made him simply a bad man in the eyes of the audience from the start. However, as Schindler was more exposed to the horrors truly being committed against the jewish people, he was characterized as a completely different human. This was kickstarted when he was advised by Itzhak Stern, his accountant, to hire Jews as workers for his factory. Oskar agreed to do so only because he would be paying them far less than Pole...
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...Man needs a purpose to survive whether it is for himself or for the sake of another, and in order to do so, he will need to adapt. The holocaust is a good example of when people were put to the test and forced to adapt either to benefit themselves, make choices that they would normally...
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...Thief, experiences throughout the war. Max lived in a time where being a Jew was the only reason for death, and became the Holocaust. During this time, Max helps the little girl who protects him. Hans, also from The Book Thief, was the friend that took Max in. Hans not only helped Max, but he also looked after a foster daughter named Liesel, who he then shelters too. Both the Holocaust and what happened in Rwanda are called genocides. A genocide is the killing of large groups of people, sometimes related to ethnicity or race.In Rwanda, a large genocide occurred because of...
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...How Should I Live? With each decision, we constantly ask ourselves, “Is this the right decision?” Sooner or later, we are all presented with the task to choose between what is right and what is easy. In one of my favorite novel series, Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore says to Harry, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” (Rowling 1998, 219) This is true. Our decisions in life, our struggles, selections, and choices, are the bindings to our stories; ultimately holding together what makes us who we are, just as Dumbledore said. How should we live our lives? It is not a question that can be simply stated in a few words. One word out of the posed question is the main subject- “live”. What does it mean to truly live and what is the best way to do it? I think it is a mixture of many things. However, out of many lifestyles that involve moral behavior, I think the life of an altruist is an extremely honorable one, and it is one by which I want to model my life. In order to do good, one must know evil. So, what is evil? What makes good people do bad things? According to Philip Zimbardo, “evil consists in intentionally behaving in ways that harm, abuse, demean, dehumanize, or destroy innocent others -- or using one’s authority and systemic power to encourage or permit others to do so on your behalf” (Zimbardo 2007, 5). Throughout history, we have seen multiple examples of evil acts; from the Rwandan Genocide to Abu Ghraib to the actions...
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...their dire judgement? In this study I aim to uncover the events, reasons and changes which led to the Holocaust and the further changes in the treatment of the Jewish race by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. In the aftermath of the First World War, Germany is under the Judgment of the Allies as a result of Allied victory Germany is being blamed for most of the war, The Treaty of Versailles stated that they: * Are to pay compensation to the Allies: £6.6 Million, which was well over Germany’s financial capacity at the time. * Portions of Germany’s land has been claimed and will distributed under Allied power to form new nations and also will be given to allied nations who lost land during the war. * Germany’s army will be reduced to only 100,000 men plus their naval vessels have been limited to 6 capital ships. The west of Rhineland had been Demilitarised and occupied by Allied forces. * Germany was not allowed to join with Austria to boost its economy. These were only just a few of the terms of the treaty. In Germany, many people were ‘pointing fingers’ and putting the blame on others, one group of people however, is taking the most fire: The Jewish Race. The Jewish Race have been known to be persecuted since ancient times, right from the time when the Egyptians were ruling the Israelites, this was due to hatred towards Jewish Culture and way of life. The Jewish population in Germany was approximately 210,000 in 1918; this was quite small compared...
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...translated into English means labor makes you free. This was the first thing many Jews in the 1940’s saw as the banner above the gates of the place they’d likely die read. (Wachsmann) German soldiers fed Jews false hope, thinking that the harder they worked the closer freedom would be when in reality freedom could only come with death. The world changed forever when an estimated 20,946,000 people died due to the world war ignited by Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The Third Reich was the name for Nazi Germany under Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) when it was a totalitarian state. Totalitarianism is a political system where the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever necessary. (Dictionary) Soldiers were killed in battle, Civilians in cross fire, and by starvation but nothing compares to the systematic execution and elimination demonstrated by the Third Reich sponsored death camps. Before the organized concentration camps that are well known throughout the world to have killed a countless number of people there were camps built in the early 1930’s when the Nazi’s first came into power. Earlier camps were temporary and were set up to confine, interrogate, torture, and weaken the Nazis' political opponents under the control of the Gestapo. The camps built later by The Reich between 1939 and 1942 were used to hold large groups of prisoners without trial including Jews, gypsies, Slavs, and prisoners...
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...• Some men did not want to appear cowardly to the other men • peer pressure of not stepping up against the idea • Testimony was consistent—gives it weight and truth • Career destruction – thought that if they refused to kill Jews that it would destroy there business/careers • Holocaust: The ignored Reality- Timothy Snyder • What is wrong with making (A) the iconic Holocaust experience? o It was the western most camp o Eastern killings are much unknown o Should view as one mass murder o Most Jews were polish Jews that were killed o Jews killed at (A) were not representative victims • Jews at (A) came mostly from western Europe • More educated/less religious than Polish Jews o (A) was not as bad other camps • Gets attention because there are a lot of survivors • Educated prisoners were able to write and share their story • Western released prisoners were able to spread their stories easier than eastern survivors who were under Soviet rule o 50% of the victims did not die by gas, they died by bullet • Focusing on camps leaves out a large portion of the killings most importantly the mass shootings • Shame- Primo Levi o What (widely-held) ideas about Holocaust survival is Primo Levi trying to dispel? • The people were experienced liberation as a joyous moment- the memories of survivors become colored by the Hollywood scripts. The...
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