The List is Life: Oskar Schindler

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“Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he had saved the whole world” (Rodkinson)
These words, as spelled out in the Babylonian Talmud, signify a people’s tradition; a people with a history of persecution. Undeniably, the persecution experienced by the Jewish people has helped to shape the perception of humanity and the approach to racism, bigotry, and intolerance.
Movies about the Holocaust can teach us about intolerance and the psychology of man which both fueled the atrocities that occurred during World War II. What was the force of such carnage? How and why were the chosen categorized? And how did these people survive? One such movie is Schindler’s List, which tells the story of a man who went into the war a womanizer, boozer, and war profiteer, but came out a humble man overflowing with humility.
This paper will view Schindler’s List not as a movie about the Holocaust, but about a man, who at the end of World War II, had bestowed life upon not only the estimated 1,200 Jewish individuals who would have been macerated and slaughtered like more than six-million others, but also the generations that came after by giving them hope and identity.
Schindler’s List was the beginning of an archival process which began to authenticate the tragedies of the persecuted; refuting Holocaust deniers. Most knew of the atrocities that occurred during this dark period of history but chose to stand by, doing nothing. A few reached out to help; Oskar Schindler was one of those people. Schindler’s List is a screen adaptation of his story.
Schindler’s List is, in this author’s opinion, the creative genius of its creator, director Steven Spielberg. Approximately 184 minutes, Schindler’s List represents a journey of the main characters; Oska...

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...pirit is against, it will triumph; the difference between patience and tolerance, and most importantly that there is a difference between right and wrong.
In Schindler’s List, the viewer also witnesses a crucial element to when Schindler transforms from profiteer to messiah of the Jewish people as he places their welfare before his own. During a time when lives are managed as commodities, Schindler begins bartering for their lives, and as a result losses what he treasures most; financial wealth.

Works Cited

Rodkinson, Michael , ed. "Tractate Sanhedrin." The Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Web. 08 Apr 2014. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Talmud/sanhedrin4.html.
YouTube. Monika Hertwig talks about her father Amon Leopold Göth. 2010. Photograph. YoutubeWeb. 10 Apr 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQrq4ljb48g.

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