Schindler’s List: Jews’ Persecution through the Holocaust and Their Survival Jews, a religious group of people originating from Israel, have lived in Europe, including Germany, for about 1500 years (Carr; Shyovitz). As Jews moved away from Israel, agriculture was no longer their main form of breadwinning. They have become more educated and many acquired skilled professions. In Europe, Christians were not allowed to lend money and the Jews have become the main money lenders. The knowledge, skills, and money lending abilities that Jews possessed allowed them to become extremely prosperous. During 1000-1500, most Rulers in Europe were Christians, who disliked the Jews (Carr). Although they lived peacefully with their neighbors, Christians blamed …show more content…
Jews were also barred from owning land or from holding jobs that they desired and for which they qualified. Even under these constraints, Jews prospered and gained significant values as merchants throughout Europe. During the Middle Age, with the increased spread of Christianity, Jews were looked upon as “allied with Muslims” and many were killed (Carr; Shyovitz). Long before the twentieth century Holocaust, Jews were forced to live in closed communities, known as ghettos, without interacting with the outside world, but under strict regulations from the German authorities (“Ghetto”). Jewish isolation led to a greater increase of their religious background and, therefore, even greater persecution. In the seventeenth century, rulers of the European kingdoms valued the Jews because of their economic status and granted them citizenships. During the eighteenth …show more content…
Schindler’s List exposes the true meaning and the reality of this form of the identification. When a Jewish woman asked during the required registration, “What if I just took [the armband] off? What are [the Nazis] going to do?” the answer she received was “They will just shoot you.” Nazis treated the Jews inhumanely. The side locks, that some religious men were wearing, were cut off, and sometimes, even pulled, along with the skin. At first, their houses and businesses were taken away and everyone was moved into the ghettos. However, this was not enough for the Germans; their true goals of Jewish extermination led them to ghettos’ liquidations and forcing the Jews to live in concentration camps. During the transition, the Jews’ belongings were taken away. The families were separated and children were taken away from their parents. While some attempted to escape or hide, thousands were
The Jews have been the only people accused of deicide and this caused hatred from Christians. During the diaspora, the Jews settled in the Mediterranean countries, although they settled as far away as Europe. Constant uprooting prevented the Jews from becoming agriculturalists and pastoralists, therefore they worked at trades. During the middle ages, the Jews made ornamental glass objects and worked at money lending. They were seen as prosperous and resented by the people of the countries where they settled. Resentment built against the Jews by the less prosperous people of the settled countries. The attitude of the Christian church was summed up, from our lecture, by John Chrysostom who wrote: “The Jews are the odious assassins of Christ and for killing God there is no expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon.” The churches were reluctant to help the Jews during the holocaust because of the long-standing hatred. The Jews caught in German-occupied areas after World War I had little help except for few organizations and many countries did
The Jews in Europe were treated very poorly until a reform began in the late eighteenth century. The Jews lived in ghettos where they were not even considered citizens. The Jewish Enlightenment questioned this treatment.
The Holocaust was the state sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Six million Jews were killed through the process of identification, exclusion, confiscation, ghettoization, deportation and extermination. Many who fought against the Nazi’s are seen as heroes which is clearly portrayed in the film “Schindler’s List” through the protagonist Oskar Schindler as he saves the lives of 1100 Jews. Schindler was prepared to make his fortune from World War II. Joining the Nazi party for political convenience, he staffs his factory with Jewish laborers. At the point when the SS starts eradicating Jews in the Krakow ghetto, Schindler organized to have his workers secured
“99 subhuman Jews in the row, 99 subhuman Jews! Shoot one down, kick it around, 98 subhuman Jews in the row!” ~ Concentration camp worker during the holocaust. How could you begin to describe what’s always said to be such a horrible and tragic event? The Holocaust or Final Solution only seems as bad equal to the amount the person describing it values human life. To answer all of the topics presented to me I will be discussing the following; What is meant by “The Holocaust” or “Final Solution”, Why the Jewish were dehumanized, The choices made during the Holocaust, and My personal view on events that took place during the holocaust.
For starters, Germans forced Jews out of their homes. First they prohibited from leaving their residences. “Jews were prohibited from leaving their residences for three days under
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, a memoir that shows the holocaust was in 1940s. The story develops by Elie’s own experiences that he had in 1940, where the holocaust was at its highest point. Schindler’s List is a film directed by Steven Spielberg, where he develops a main character, a German businessman who wants to save Jewish people. Both Night and Schindler’s List shows the consequences of the holocaust. In the section one of Night, Jews were expelled from Sighet. People had to leave all of their things and houses. In the ghetto, people who were prisoners couldn’t have their things. They would have to wear the same clothes every day and were also given numbers that were used instead of their given names at birth. On page 10 “...the Hungarian
During World War II, German forces pushed all Polish Jews from Krakow into the local ghetto that was already full with Polish Jews. Schindler’s List shows how a member of the Nazi Party, Oskar Schindler, saves Jews from the Krakow Ghetto and many others by opening an enamelware factory and bribing German officials. Schindler hires a Jewish official named Itzhak Stern to help him run the factory and manage finances. Eventually, the factory is up and running, but the Krakow Ghetto was ordered to be emptied, a process in which many Jews were killed. Schindler watches this massacre from a distant mountain and realizes that he wants to save Jews with his factory instead of focusing on making a profit. The man in charge of the concentration camp
The Jews were different from the general population of the countries where they were. They had different customs, had a different religion and dressed different. Because they were grouped in the ghettos these differences were increased. However, when Germany became a nation in 1871, there was a halt in anti-Semitic laws. In 1900, Jews could buy houses, and while they were subject to restrictions, they were more comfortable under Ge...
During the war jewish families were forced to abandon their homes and all their possessions, and eventually they even lose their humanity and grips on life.
feels he must turn his factory into a refuge for Jews. By doing so he
Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s List is the historical account of Oskar Schindler and his heroic actions in the midst of the horrors of World War II Poland. Schindler’s List recounts the life of Oskar Schindler, and how he comes to Poland in search of material wealth but leaves having saved the lives of over 1100 Jews who would most certainly have perished. The novel focuses on how Schindler comes to the realization that concentration and forced labor camps are wrong, and that many people were dying through no fault of their own. This realization did not occur overnight, but gradually came to be as the business man in Oskar Schindler turned into the savior of the Jews that had brought him so much wealth. Schindler’s List is not just a biography of Oskar Schindler, but it is the story of how good can overcome evil and how charity can overcome greed.
There is much history concerning the Jewish people and their presence in England as an organized community, beginning in 1066 when Jewish merchants were encouraged to move to England. Professor Daniel J. Elazer, in summarizing an article by Aubrey Newman, states that from 1066 to 1290 the Jews suffered persecution in the form of "blood libels, mass riots, and discriminatory legislation" (4), followed by expulsion from England until 1655 when a Sephardi Rabbi was able to convince Oliver Cromwell to allow the Jews readmission. Most of the Jews coming into England were Sephardi Jews, well educated and successful businessmen from Spain and Amsterdam, until later in the seventeenth century when Jewish immigrants from Northern Europe began to arrive. These Jews were known as Ashkenazi Jews and were of a lower social class than the Sephardi (5).
From the first moment of Schindler's List to the very last, you will be amazed by the strength and resilience of the Jewish people during this horrendous time in their history. You will witness and feel their pain and horror in this very graphic, yet painfully true story. Steven Speilberg deserves all of the awards this film had brought him. It is a time in history we should never forget and pray that we will never witness again.
In the late Eighteenth-Century to the early Twentieth-Century, Europe underwent a plethora of changes. These changes bolstered industrial development, economic growth, government reform, education reform, and military reform. Germany was one of the biggest beneficiaries of these changes and its economy increased drastically. Yet, with all the new social ideas and freedoms Germany’s national religion remained Protestant and Jews remained a small minority. Cases of anti-Semitism were demonstrated through political, social, and economic means. Large cities saw anti-Semitic groups sprout up, alienating the Jewish population with their articles published in newspapers that were spread throughout Germany thanks to the industrial revolution. All the new ideas of the enlightenment and industrial revolution were slow to reach rural farm towns which remained profoundly traditional in their ways of life. German and Prussian nationalism enticed the populace to adopt Protestantism as the solitary religion, this reinforced the segregation of minorities which consequently caused a major disconnect between traditional ethnic beliefs and progressive political decrees.
A film bursting with visual and emotional stimuli, the in-depth character transformation of Oscar Schindler in Schindler’s List is a beautiful focal point of the film. Riddled with internal conflict and ethical despair, Schindler challenges his Nazi Party laws when he is faced with continuing his ambitious business ideas or throwing it all away for the lives of those he once saw as solely cheap labor. Confronted with leading a double life and hiding his motivations from those allegiant to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Schindler undergoes numerous ethical dilemmas that ultimately shape his identity and challenge his humanity. As a descendent of a Jewish-American, Yiddish speaking World War II soldier who helped liberate concentration camps in Poland, this film allowed for an enhanced personal