Topic > Understanding the Holocaust through "Schindler's List"

The worst genocide in history will be called the Holocaust. The Holocaust is described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a sacrifice consumed by fire” or “a massacre of people.” (Holocaust) The torture began in 1933 and lasted for more than a decade and ended in 1945. Adolf Hitler, who was the Nazi leader, specifically chose the Jewish people as the scapegoat. He also responded to those who were homosexual and had other religious beliefs. Jews were forced to abandon their homes and were separated from their families, men on one side and women, including children, on the other. Later he got to the point where he chose to take anyone he randomly met on his path. Many people tried to help and save the Jewish people. Some failed, and some, like the Swedish government and Oskar Schindler, managed to save some Jews. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Swedish government offered asylum to approximately 7,000 Jews in Denmark. After they were rescued, about a month later the authorities were warned that Germany was invading Denmark and urged the Jews to quickly hide. Fishing ferries were organized to complete the effort of smuggling Jews from Denmark to Sweden. (Rescue in Denmark) Oskar Schindler also saved approximately 1,200 Jews. He owned a factory that made glazes with which he created plates and bowls. In a movie created about Oskar Schindler called “Schindler's List,” there was a scene that showed Jews working in his factory and the factories actually creating “soup.” Schindler was the owner of a factory which is still transformed into a museum today and is called "Fabryka Oskara Schindlera-Emalia". Oskar employed so many Jews and treated them so well. He fed them and never let them starve and made sure they always had clothes and never lacked anything for them. Overall, Oskar had a lot of respect for his employees and never mistreated them even once. In the film there was a scene where Jews were ordered to be relocated and in that ruckus his employees, including his accountant Itzhak Stern, were taken without a trace. Once Oskar found out about this, he took control and confronted all the officials, and after many threats, they finally released all his employees and he managed to bring them back to the factory. Throughout the entire movie, I was really filled with mixed emotions. and at some moments in the film I was speechless. I definitely had questions that I kept asking, such as: Why didn't Schindler create more factories and hire more Jews? Even if he had only been interested in the money that would have come to him, I am sure that he would have saved many more Jews from the horrible massacre that took place outside the factory. The film was created in pure black and white, so when I came across the scene where a liquidation was taking place, there was a little girl concentrating to take a look and she was wearing a red coat. I'm sure everyone who has seen the movie has definitely questioned that specific part. I concluded that the scene was created to signify the death of those innocent and small children like her. It saddens me to know that even in this catastrophe, young children were involved and those who were heartless and negligent honestly don't care if there were children or not. They obeyed orders and did what they were told. There are a couple of scenes where Jews give their names to people who give their names to people sitting at desks. During those scenes, people signed up to be accounted for, but they signed up.