Oskar Schindler's Actions During the Holocaust
The Holocaust usually refers to Nazi Germany's systematic genocide of various peoples during the Second World War, the main target of this designed massacre being the Jews. Approximately 6 million Jews became the victims of this fanatical racism, slaughter, and cruelty. However, in all this madness, there were still a few people with sound conscience and courage to act against these atrocities. The most famous of these heroes would be Oskar Schindler, the once opportunistic businessman who, later, spent every last of his pennies to save his 1200 "Schindler Jews." People often deliberate on why Oskar Schindler did what he did. However, the issue of interest should not be focused on why Oskar Schindler did what he did but rather, on why no one else did what he did. The exact reason that makes Schindler a hero is that he did what everyone else did not dare to do.
The initial depiction made of Schindler is not exactly one of high morals and a good conscience. Although Schindler was born in a deeply religious Catholic family, his early years of life were colored with materialism and debauchery. He was notorious for being a greedy exploiter of slave workers, a black-marketer, a gambler, a member of the Nazi party, and an alcoholic playboy. However, this most hated and degraded of man became the most revered saviors of modern times.
Oskar Schindler succeeded in accomplishing something everyone else deemed impossible. The saving of the first Schindler Jews began in 1939, when he opened up a small enamel shop right outside of Krakow near the Jewish ghetto. Here, he employed mostly Jewish workers, thus, saving them from being deported to labor camps. Then in 1942, when Schindler found out that the local Krakow Jews were being sent to the brutal Plazow labor camp, he convinced the S. S. and the Armaments Administration to set up a sub-camp in his factory. They agreed, and Schindler took even those who were unfit and unqualified for work. In turn, he spared 900 Jewish lives from this one action. In October of 1944, after negotiating with S.S. officials, he was allowed to take with him some Jewish workers to his armament production company in Bruunlitz. Schindler then succeeded in transferring over 700 Jews from the Grossrosen camp, and another 300 women form Auschwitz. After this successful operation in Brunnlit...
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...their cruelty, whether through sadistic behavior or through neglect, because everyone else was acting the same way. They could lapse into such cruelty because they were in total control of the Jews.
Oskar Schindler became a historical figure because he did what others did not, and did not do what human beings usually fall for. He did not fall for the Nazi's propaganda, which justified
their cruelty, like any other individual had, but sustained sound judgment and conscience. Also, he did not lapse into cruelty like the average German had, but realized the monstrosity of the actions of the Nazis. Moreover, based on his untarnished judgment, Schindler stepped forward and took action against evil doing.
Bibliography
Keneally, Thomas. Schindler's List. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982.
Milgram, Stanley. Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. New Work: Harper/Collings, 1974.
Milgram, Stanley. "The Perils of Obedience." Harper's Magazine. 1974.
Paldiel, Mordecai. "Schindler, Oskar." Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. New York: Macmillan, 1990.
Zimbardo, P. G., and Leippe, M.. The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1991.
In the height of the war, Oskar Schindler recognized that he could use his power and prestige to do more good by saving people’s lives rather than just by making money. As the persecution of the Jews increased, Schindler felt compelled to save lives by hiring the Jewish people to work for him in his factory. If a Jewish person was not considered skilled or useful, they were in danger of being sent off to death camps. Oskar Schindler would hire many Jews (skilled or unskilled) to prevent them from being sent to their death. Not only did he employ them, he also housed...
There are many heroic individuals in history that have shown greatness during a time of suffering ,as well as remorse when greatness is needed, but one individual stood out to me above them all. He served as a hero among all he knew and all who knew him. This individual, Simon Wiesenthal, deserves praise for his dedication to his heroic work tracking and prosecuting Nazi war criminals that caused thousands of Jews, Gypsies, Poles and other victims of the Holocaust to suffer and perish.
Oskar Schindler was a German spy in the Nazi Party.He was also a very wealthy businessman who owned a war goods manufacturing factory in the World War II era. Schindler managed to employ 1,200 Jews in his factory in an effort to save them. While Schindler did this, a new concentration camp opened up near him that was run by the notorious Amon Goth. Schindler cultivated a relationship with Goth, so whenever Goth would try to take the Jews to his camp, Schindler would bribe him with black market goods. Later on in the war the camp was forced to shut down due to the advance of the Allies. Schindler got word that all of his Jewish workers would be shipped to Auschwitz with the other Jews. Schindler, upset by this, decided to build a new factory
Oskar Schindler accomplished many things within his life, such as saving the Jews, being a German spy, and helping the economy. His accomplishments have benefited those throughout his life. Although his kindness for his fellow man ran deep, so did his greed for boosting his own personal status within the community. There are still those today that believe that Oskar Schindler only saved the Jews for his own personal gain, but there are also those that believe that he did it out of kindness. Whether he did it out of good morale or simply for his own greed, Oskar Schindler 's many accomplishments have impacted plenty of lives.
Oskar Schindler was a German Industrialist and a previous member of the Nazi Party (Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) ). Schindler had many jobs, including working in his father’s machinery business, opening a driving school, selling government property, and serving in the Czechoslovak army (Oskar Schindler). At first, Oskar was motivated by money and he did not care if the way he got that money was unfair or illegal, but then his mindset changed when he noticed all of the victims from the Holocaust (Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) ). He then changed his goal from making as much money as possible to saving as many Jews as he could from Plaszow and Auschwitz (Oskar
Managing to save 1,200 Jews. This quote also shows courage because at his own expense he provided his Jewish employees with the life sufficient diet they needed unlike the Nazis did. Secondly, Schindler didn't want to sneak away the jews he only wanted to make a hoax for the Nazis. He wanted the Nazis to believe that he was helping them with the German war effort but really he was trying to save the Jewish community from final liquidation. The narrator describes, “He only wanted to keep the hoax up long enough to survive the war” (2). this quote demonstrates how Schidler stands up to the German command to help out the Jewish community without getting himself in the line at danger but still manages to save 1,200 Jews. He also demonstrates courage because if he got busted for what he is doing he would be imprisoned or even
Through the entire first half of the movie Schindler is characterized as a Casanova who just has to be with every woman he comes across. For example, at the Nazi get together we see him kissing every one of the women who were at the celebration. In addition
Even through the struggles and his near death he was saved by a generous nazi known as Oskar Schindler who was very kind and even went against his own group to prevent the death of many Jews he could gather during the Holocaust.
Most Americans know of Oskar Schindler, the German businessman who saved more than 1,200 lives during the Holocaust by hiring Jews to work in his factories and fought Nazi efforts to remove them.
As I said before Schindler was a profiteer, making him one of the wealthiest men in Germany. In fact he was a member of the Pro-Nazi Sudeten Nazi German Party not because he believed in what was being said and done, but just purely because it made him look better in the eyes of the Germans. Schindler would even be addressed as “Herr Direktor” this would help Nazi’s or other Germans from deeming him as a threat. With his high stature and connections he was able to save many lives. Schindler really shows this when one of his “Schindler List” trains containing women and children is accidently transported to Auschwitz concentration camp, and he has to bribe the commander Rudolf Höss, with a bag of diamonds to grant release. Even when they were going to keep back the children he made the point that with their little hands they can clean .5mm shell casings. The Bielskis had no status in life, they were nobodies in the eyes of the Nazi Germans. They could truly rely on noone in a fear of being betrayed. The Bielskis had to endure life in a somewhat secluded spot in the woods so they could stay alive. They never put a price on saving people, and took in anyone suffering. Taking in the ill was risky business because the illness could spread through the camp and slowly pick off people one by one. The other issue was obtaining food and rationing it. They obviously had to steal, save, and scrape by to
He not only spent a large portion of his wealth on employing jews and giving them a job, but he went out of his way to ensure their safety. Unlike many people of the Nazi Party, Schindler was one who always helped other, even at the expense of his own. He was smart about it too, making sure that the other Naizs dont suspect him of trying to help the Jews. Instead of telling Goeth to not kill the Jews directly, to his face, he tried to explain that real power isn't in the killing, but having the power to kill and not doing it. Schindler wanted Goeth to start pardoning people instead of solving all of his problems with a gun. In the scene with the jews being thrown into a crammed cart on the hot day, Oskar saw that they had no air to breathe and they were suffering from the heat. Oskar made the soldiers hose down the carts so that they would be cooled off and air would be circulated into the cart for them to breathe. Another example of why Oskar is a hero is that he did absolutely everything he could to save as many lives as he could. When the guards were throwing pulling the children aside from getting onto the train, Oskar ran and told him that they were “essential” to clean the inside of .45 shells. When he found out that all of the women that he bought had been accidentally transported to auschwitz, he, himself, went to the camp to retrieve them , making sure of their safe deportation to his factory. He made sure that his workers were happy, he not only allowed that to practice their religion, but somewhat encouraged it. He pulled a rabbi aside and asked him why he wasn't preparing for “Sabbath.” Oskar Schindler was an honorable, and noble
In 1939 after the World War II started Schindler and his wife travelled to Krakow in hopes of profit in business. When the World War II started, Schindler realized that it was the right time to make a lot of money. Schindler opened a new factory and named it Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (German
Schindler’s List had a great effect on me personally. I thought that Thomas Keneally did an excellent job in making the reader feel the events of the time. Perhaps what I found to be most interesting in Schindler’s List is a question of morality. I began asking myself the question, would I be as heroic as Oskar Schindler if I were in his shoes? I think that this is exactly what Keneally wanted us to do; he wanted us to look at ourselves and analyze what’s inside. Historically, I find Schindler’s List to be very important not only because it is tells of a shameful time in western civilization, but also because the events that took place in the novel occurred only yesterday. After all fifty years is almost nothing in historical terms. Perhaps the novel’s greatest strength is this feeling that the events that transpired in Schindler’s List are in fact modern history.
Is Oskar Schindler a hero or villain? It might seem obvious that he is a hero, but there are two opposing viewpoints on Oskar Schindler. We see him act selfishly and selflessly. It can be argued whether he was a Nazi war profiteer and womaniser, or an actual hero to the Jews.
During the occupation of the Krakow Ghetto, Jews were being separated into “essential” and “non-essential” categories. Individuals selected for the “non-essential” category were to be shipped off to concentration camps. Originally completed by a Jewish accountant recruited by Schindler, “non-essential” workers were being designated as “essential” workers for Schindler’s business. Realizing he was unknowingly hiring unfit employees, Schindler berated the accountant for devising the plan and jeopardizing his profits. This incident is where Schindler is faced with his first ethical dilemma; by taking away the employment of unfit individuals, he is sentencing them to certain death, but if he allows them to remain, he is endangering future profits. By allowing the unqualified employees to stay, viewers can see a shift in his inner workings, and also a light is shown on his humanity. Furthermore, his reputation for forgiveness and mercy begins to bud, as does his slow separation from Nazi Party