For my multimedia source I watched the movie Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1993. I thought this movie was very different than many other Holocaust/ World War 2 movies. While it still showed many bad things that happened during this time, this movie focused on the good that Oskar Schindler accomplished.
Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews lives. I know that seems like a small number, but the people he saved could have been the difference making 6 million Jews killed into 7 million. He saved these Jews lives by employing them in a factory that made enamel ware and ammunitions. Schindler was a member of the Nazi party but we notice that there is something that is different about him compared to everyone else. At one point in the movie, Schindler says, “Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don’t.” This is a very powerful statement because we see that he chooses not to kill. That is probably one of the biggest differences from him and the other Nazis. Schindler obtained an enamel ware factory in 1939 in Krakow, Poland. He employed about 1,000 Jews out of 1,750 workers. Schindler was at first only in it for the money and becoming rich. Over time, we see him have a change of heart from being in the business for only the money, to being in it to save his Jewish workers. In the film that change is very evident. When the Nazis are liquidating the ghettos we see a little girl with a red coat. This is strange because the movie is in black and white. You are instantly drawn to her because her coat is red. When Schindler sees this girl it is like he is seeing color for the first time in his life. As the movie progresses, the concentration camp has to dig up all the people they murdered and burn them. One wheel barrows with dead bodies in it passes and we see the little girl with the red coat. I believe that moment is the turning point for Schindler because from there on out he goes out of his way to save his Jewish workers.
We see Schindler convince Amon Goth, the commander of the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp, to move Schindler’s factory to the Brunnlitz concentration camp to spare the workers of having to go to Auschwitz. Schindler continued to bribe SS officials to prevent the execution of workers at Brunnlitz. He had to bribe them until the end of World War2. By that time Schindler had spent all his money on bribes and black-market purchases for supplies for the workers. Schindler saved, as mentioned before, 1,200 Jewish lives. Today fewer than 4000 Jews live in Poland, but there are more than 6000 descendants of the Schindler Jews. AT the end of the movie the Jews make a gold ring out of someone’s tooth filling. On the ring it says, “Whoever save one life, saves the entire world.”
In the movie we see a complete opposite of Schindler who is Amon Goth. Amon Goth was the commander of the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp. We see that Schindler is a very kind man, where Amon Goth is a ruthless man who doesn’t value any life except for his own. On September 3, 1943, He was the officer in charge of the liquidation of a ghetto with 25,000 Jews living inside of it. After the liquidation only 8,000 Jews remained. Goth personally shot between 30 and 90 women and children that day. The Krakow-Plaszow could hold 2,000 inmates when it opened. At its peak, it held 636 guards and 25,000 permanent inmates. Amon Goth personally murdered people daily at his concentration camp. We see this visually happening during the movie. Goth sits on his balcony and shoots people who are resting or not moving fast enough. One of the Schindler Jews, Poldek Pfefferberg, stated “When you saw Goth, you saw death.” Goth believed that if one person did something wrong in a group, everyone should pay for it. On one occasion a worker did not return to the camp, so Goth personally shot every 5th member of the group.
Schindler and Amon Goth are to extremely contrasting characters. This movie showed me that the world likes to focus on the bad that happened and rarely the good. For instance, everyone knows Hitler’s name and who he was. But how many people know who Oskar Schindler’s name and the 1,200 lives he saved?
Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews lives. I know that seems like a small number, but the people he saved could have been the difference making 6 million Jews killed into 7 million. He saved these Jews lives by employing them in a factory that made enamel ware and ammunitions. Schindler was a member of the Nazi party but we notice that there is something that is different about him compared to everyone else. At one point in the movie, Schindler says, “Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don’t.” This is a very powerful statement because we see that he chooses not to kill. That is probably one of the biggest differences from him and the other Nazis. Schindler obtained an enamel ware factory in 1939 in Krakow, Poland. He employed about 1,000 Jews out of 1,750 workers. Schindler was at first only in it for the money and becoming rich. Over time, we see him have a change of heart from being in the business for only the money, to being in it to save his Jewish workers. In the film that change is very evident. When the Nazis are liquidating the ghettos we see a little girl with a red coat. This is strange because the movie is in black and white. You are instantly drawn to her because her coat is red. When Schindler sees this girl it is like he is seeing color for the first time in his life. As the movie progresses, the concentration camp has to dig up all the people they murdered and burn them. One wheel barrows with dead bodies in it passes and we see the little girl with the red coat. I believe that moment is the turning point for Schindler because from there on out he goes out of his way to save his Jewish workers.
We see Schindler convince Amon Goth, the commander of the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp, to move Schindler’s factory to the Brunnlitz concentration camp to spare the workers of having to go to Auschwitz. Schindler continued to bribe SS officials to prevent the execution of workers at Brunnlitz. He had to bribe them until the end of World War2. By that time Schindler had spent all his money on bribes and black-market purchases for supplies for the workers. Schindler saved, as mentioned before, 1,200 Jewish lives. Today fewer than 4000 Jews live in Poland, but there are more than 6000 descendants of the Schindler Jews. AT the end of the movie the Jews make a gold ring out of someone’s tooth filling. On the ring it says, “Whoever save one life, saves the entire world.”
In the movie we see a complete opposite of Schindler who is Amon Goth. Amon Goth was the commander of the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp. We see that Schindler is a very kind man, where Amon Goth is a ruthless man who doesn’t value any life except for his own. On September 3, 1943, He was the officer in charge of the liquidation of a ghetto with 25,000 Jews living inside of it. After the liquidation only 8,000 Jews remained. Goth personally shot between 30 and 90 women and children that day. The Krakow-Plaszow could hold 2,000 inmates when it opened. At its peak, it held 636 guards and 25,000 permanent inmates. Amon Goth personally murdered people daily at his concentration camp. We see this visually happening during the movie. Goth sits on his balcony and shoots people who are resting or not moving fast enough. One of the Schindler Jews, Poldek Pfefferberg, stated “When you saw Goth, you saw death.” Goth believed that if one person did something wrong in a group, everyone should pay for it. On one occasion a worker did not return to the camp, so Goth personally shot every 5th member of the group.
Schindler and Amon Goth are to extremely contrasting characters. This movie showed me that the world likes to focus on the bad that happened and rarely the good. For instance, everyone knows Hitler’s name and who he was. But how many people know who Oskar Schindler’s name and the 1,200 lives he saved?