After completing Schindler's List, I have gained a new perspective on the holocaust and life. I can say with the greatest confidence, that no book has moved me as much as Schindler's List. Before I speak of how the book impacted me, I would like to speak about the ending of the book itself.
Schindler had now moved his factory operations to Moravia to the dismay of many citizens in the town of which the factory was situated, Brinnlitz. SS guards had been assigned to the camp, but it was not as secured as the camp in Cracow. This gave Schindler a large amount of breathing room. Goeth had been arrested by the Gestapo on charges of trading within the black market, in the prologue it is found that Goeth had been later arrested by Americans at the end of WWII and was executed. The people who were sent to Brinnlitz were only on the elusive "Schindler's List". Schindler claimed that all of the people on the list were essential to the operation of the plant and were all skilled workers. This of course was not the case, as many were unable to even turn on the machines in his factory, he solely did it for the purpose of saving the Jews. All of the prisoners were jammed into cattle cars and were sent to Brinnlitz. The journey was treacherous as there was no space at all in the cars. Eventually the male group of trains made it to Brinnlitz, but the Women's trains had not shown up.
Schindler was unaware that the women had accidentally been sent to Auschwitz. Many of Schindler's workers had become severely ill in Auschwitz. Auschwitz was a complete horror, prisoners were lucky to get a small piece of bread per day and were often worked very hard and would eventually be told they were going to the "showers". Schindler had to pay a fortune to bribe the SS to let the prisoners come to Brinnlitz. Eventually, they were sent in the cattle cars to Brinnitz.
Brinnlitz was a paradise for the Jews. They actually had not produced any real weapons but acted like they were working whenever an inspector came. Schindler had lost tons of money for not producing anything, but did it for the Jews. Oskar had decided to buy weapons from the Czech Republic and then passed it on to the Armanents Inspectorate as his own weapons. This kept his camp alive. His camp was the only camp that no Jews had been killed in. Every single prisoner was provided with a full 2000 calories per day, almost 20 times the amount prisoners had received in Auschwitz. The Brinnlitz factory was a safe haven for the Jews, especially considering the horrors that had been occurring at other camps.
Oskar had been waiting for one day for his entire life, the day that the Nazis surrendered. Eventually, this day came. Oskar was jubilant and had told the Jews that they had surrendered. A speech was given by Schindler, thanking all the Jews and wishing them the best in the future. He also went to the extent to thank the SS guards for being humane and not aggressive. Oskar armed his prisoners with weapons in case the Russians invaded his factory, and he had escaped dressed up as a prisoner. This was so no Russians or Americans thought he was a Nazi leader. Oskar came across Americans and would later find that his entire home and money had been taken by the Russians. Oskar was now broke, but later would be rewarded.
Oskar's life really wound down towards the end. He was recognized around the world as a hero. Israel had declared him a Righteous Person, one of the highest honors given from the country. He would live a rather humble end to his life but his workers now had become part of his family. They would visit him often and give him many gifts. When Oskar had passed away, he had left a profound impact on the world.
As stated in the beginning, I have never read a more powerful story. Schindler's List was truly a moving experience. What stood out most was the immense selflessness and courage of Oskar Schindler. Oskar Schindler could have gone with conformity and done nothing to help the Jews. Instead, Schindler had put his life on the line to save thousands of people. This in itself is an amazing feat. He had saved more Jews than anyone in the Holocaust and most definitely would have been killed if anyone reported. Schindler saw the moral issues with the Holocaust and acted upon it in the most impressive manner.
I was also immensely moved by the horror in the story. The scenes in the novel seemed completely fictional. They were so upsetting, especially considering the fact that this was the act of human beings. I can not imagine why anyone would of approve of the killing and torture that occurred throughout the novel. The most upsetting scene for me, was when the cattle cars from another factory arrived in Brinlitz. The passengers had been stuck in the cattle cars for 10 days without any food or water, not even seeing the light of day. When Oskar's workers opened the doors of the cattle cars the results were unsettling. Almost half of the people were found dead, and the stench from the cars was unbearable. It is incomprehensible that any human being would leave people in such a state. This book has given me powerful lessons that will affect my life forever. Be thankful for the life you were born into, and look to help others whenever possible.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Entry Four: The Problem Deepens
Quite a bit has happened as Schindler's List continues to progress. The Nazis had began to implement concentration camps throughout eastern Europe and had deemed it more "efficient" to phase out ghettos and transition into concentration and labor camps.The Kracow ghetto was converted into the Plaszow-Kracow labor camp. This would make it challenging for Oskar Schindler to continue to hold his grip on keeping his Jews safe as regulation strengthened in the area.
Amon Goeth, as previously noted, was in charge of the Kracow camp. Goeth had no control on himself and would often walk out to his balcony and randomly shoot prisoners. If one little mistake was made by his servants, they would quickly be executed. Goeth wanted as much power as possible, and attempted to bring the Emalia factory into the camp. Schindler had to really work Goeth to keep his factory outside of the camp, as it would mean certain death for his workers. Schindler had found Goeth's weak spot. Schindler played nice with the general and brought him alcohol. The two had many meetings together, this resulted in the approval of Schindler by Goeth to keep his plant. Schindler used this tactic on many other Nazi officials, and this would eventually yield him a large amount of power to be used for the future. Schindler was able to keep his Emalia factory out of the camp and had saved many Jews from potential death in the concentration camps.
Emalia had become a very well-known location to the Jews. They had envied to be allowed into the factory. Schindler had set up a separate camp to house all of his workers and would spend a large sum of money to provide adequate food for the prisoners. He would allow the workers smoke and have relationships, something that was highly banned inside camps. Occasionally the SS would come and inspect the factory to make sure that the typical rules were being practiced. Schindler would then ring a bell which would alert all the workers to cover up everything that had been illegal. Schindler had put his life on the line to put all of these measures in. This seemed to many Jews a save haven, it was considered a paradise.
Unfortunately, this paradise would not be able to be kept forever. Amon Goeth had been arrested by the Gestapo, and the camp was about to be shut down. This meant that all workers at Emalia would be sent directly to Auschwitz. The factory would be shut down. Schindler thought that this went against his values, he could just not give up on the Jews. Schindler went out on a mission to try to place a factory somewhere else. He had found a perfect location in a nearby city, but it would later be bombed out. Finally, Schindler thought he found a perfect location in Czechoslovakia and after some very strong resistance, he had been able to put the factory in. Schindler payed an enormous amount of money to pay for the factory and allow the Jews to work there, but he found that it was worth it. Schindler wrote up his list of people he would want to work in his factory, and in result, save. This would become known as Schindler's List.
Schindler's List has brought on a journey of emotions and has really touched me. I feel that it is the responsibility of the author, Thomas Keneally, to invoke these emotions on such a topic. It still completely confuses me as to why humans could ever commit acts as were done by Amon Goeth and other Nazi officials. Amon Goeth would just shoot prisoners whenever he felt like it, without any restraint. It is terrible to see such things occur, and the author properly creates the anger and sadness that should accompany this sort of occurrence. It is very interesting to see that this story comes from another perspective of the holocaust that people typically do not get to see, a heroic christian during the holocaust. Many people believe that everyone was a Nazi during the holocaust, and many were, but there were also an amount of people who had worked to save the Jews. Schindler's List has been an eye-opening experience that has really touched me, and I am interested to see how it ends.
You may view an Xtranormal video showing the scene when Oskar talks to Goeth about relocating his Emalia factory here.
I also created a video providing an overview of the characters in Schindler's List:
Amon Goeth, as previously noted, was in charge of the Kracow camp. Goeth had no control on himself and would often walk out to his balcony and randomly shoot prisoners. If one little mistake was made by his servants, they would quickly be executed. Goeth wanted as much power as possible, and attempted to bring the Emalia factory into the camp. Schindler had to really work Goeth to keep his factory outside of the camp, as it would mean certain death for his workers. Schindler had found Goeth's weak spot. Schindler played nice with the general and brought him alcohol. The two had many meetings together, this resulted in the approval of Schindler by Goeth to keep his plant. Schindler used this tactic on many other Nazi officials, and this would eventually yield him a large amount of power to be used for the future. Schindler was able to keep his Emalia factory out of the camp and had saved many Jews from potential death in the concentration camps.
Emalia had become a very well-known location to the Jews. They had envied to be allowed into the factory. Schindler had set up a separate camp to house all of his workers and would spend a large sum of money to provide adequate food for the prisoners. He would allow the workers smoke and have relationships, something that was highly banned inside camps. Occasionally the SS would come and inspect the factory to make sure that the typical rules were being practiced. Schindler would then ring a bell which would alert all the workers to cover up everything that had been illegal. Schindler had put his life on the line to put all of these measures in. This seemed to many Jews a save haven, it was considered a paradise.
Unfortunately, this paradise would not be able to be kept forever. Amon Goeth had been arrested by the Gestapo, and the camp was about to be shut down. This meant that all workers at Emalia would be sent directly to Auschwitz. The factory would be shut down. Schindler thought that this went against his values, he could just not give up on the Jews. Schindler went out on a mission to try to place a factory somewhere else. He had found a perfect location in a nearby city, but it would later be bombed out. Finally, Schindler thought he found a perfect location in Czechoslovakia and after some very strong resistance, he had been able to put the factory in. Schindler payed an enormous amount of money to pay for the factory and allow the Jews to work there, but he found that it was worth it. Schindler wrote up his list of people he would want to work in his factory, and in result, save. This would become known as Schindler's List.
Schindler's List has brought on a journey of emotions and has really touched me. I feel that it is the responsibility of the author, Thomas Keneally, to invoke these emotions on such a topic. It still completely confuses me as to why humans could ever commit acts as were done by Amon Goeth and other Nazi officials. Amon Goeth would just shoot prisoners whenever he felt like it, without any restraint. It is terrible to see such things occur, and the author properly creates the anger and sadness that should accompany this sort of occurrence. It is very interesting to see that this story comes from another perspective of the holocaust that people typically do not get to see, a heroic christian during the holocaust. Many people believe that everyone was a Nazi during the holocaust, and many were, but there were also an amount of people who had worked to save the Jews. Schindler's List has been an eye-opening experience that has really touched me, and I am interested to see how it ends.
You may view an Xtranormal video showing the scene when Oskar talks to Goeth about relocating his Emalia factory here.
I also created a video providing an overview of the characters in Schindler's List:
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Entry Three: Cracow
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally has been an amazingly well-composed novel so far. Every single scene is explained in excruciating detail but has kept me intrigued. Although the story is well-composed, sometimes it feels that the novel jumps around too much. Certain scenes seem to pop out of nowhere, seemingly not associated with the previous scene.
I knew when I chose this novel, it was going to be a bumpy ride. Anything that is on the holocaust is very upsetting and unfortunate. At the beginning of the section, the Jewish population is evicted from their homes and thrown into the ghetto. Some Jews accepted this change because they thought it would provide great protection from the other Poles who had been harassing the Jews to the point where they were killing people. Unfortunately, the ghetto was obviously not built with good intentions, and would make it very difficult for the Jews to live. Many Jews starved and where sent out to the newly established neighboring concentration camps. Oskar Schindler, had been keeping the Jews employed to the best of his ability, he even ran out to the cattle cars when he heard that his workers were being sent away. This employment not only saved Jews from the day to day terror of the ghetto, but had allowed them to afford meals. Towards the end of the section, Aktions occurred. During Aktion, Jews were forced out of the ghetto to be sent to concentration camps or were shot right on the spot. All officers had complete authority to kill anyone they wanted. I found it very disturbing and horrible that anyone would commit such an act and allow spontaneous murder. How could people come to find it acceptable to do such acts? In today's day and age it seems unfathomable and I was deeply affected by what had been depicted in the book.
Kneally had depicted and revealed each scene in a very well-thought out matter that had created a deep impact on the reader. A feeling that made your gut lurch. I find it excellent that a writer can have a writing style that transfers feelings. Kneally had accomplished this transfer of emotions and had deeply moved me through his writing.
Cracow had the largest population of Jewish citizens in Poland. The government in Poland had been taken over by the Nazis and the mayor of Cracow had put in a Judenfrei(Jew-Free) plan. He had ordered all Jews to live in a ghetto, to segregate them. 68,500 Jews had lived in the ghetto. The linked page gives a brief overview of the ghetto and the horrors that had occurred there. The link is here. This page describes how the Nazi NCO Amon Goeth had headed the camp in his brutal and rutheless manner. Amon Goeth was also mentioned in the novel as the evil copy of Oskar Schindler. It was stated, that if Oskar had become one bit angry, he may have become the same man as Goeth. Oskar Schindler is credited on this page for saving many Jews from death during the liquidation of the ghetto.
The above video shows the solemn day, March 20, 1942, when Jews were forced into the ghetto. The majority of workers in the factory were Jews, and the forced eviction of Jews to the ghetto had created a huge issue for Schindler, both in the moral and economical sense. It is also evident to see that many belongings were lost in the shuffle, often stolen by citizens in the street. The book describes this scene as a very important moment in the life of Oskar Schindler that would affect his life forever.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
The Basics
Schindler's List has been a very intriguing and thought provoking story so far. Oskar Schindler, the main character in Schindler's List, is a unique character. He is an industrialist in Poland. Schindler had lived originally in the small town of Zwittau with his wife, Emilie. Emilie is a very loving and dedicated wife to Schindler. Unfortunately, Oskar can not control his love and often cheats on his wife. Despite all of this, Emilie still loves him unconditionally.
Eventually Oskar found a business opportunity in the town of Cracow. The business was run by Jews and is in great danger from the Polish government, which at the time was being taken over by Germany. It was an enamelware factory named Rekord, Oskar renamed it Deutsche Emailewaren Fabrik and had set up the transaction with his account Itzhak Stern. While living in Cracow, Schindler was introduced to the injustice that many Jews experienced. In fact, the home that Oskar Schindler had received was given to him by the government as the home was taken away from a jewish family. Schindler would later pay the family 50,000 Zloty to reimburse the family. Eventually a ghetto was built in Cracow.
This ghetto was built by the government of Cracow to isolate the Jewish population from the general public. Jews were forced to vacate their homes and move into the ghetto and leave their normal life, typically they would be confined to one small room with another family. The Jews were taken away from their jobs and food was scarce in the ghetto. Jews primarily made u the workforce in Schindler's factory. Schindler had managed to keep many Jews alive by continuing to employ Jews in his factory. Schindler had to pay a hefty fee to the Nazi government each day, but he thought his moral values outweighed money. This is the guiding force between the character of Oskar Schindler and will most likely continue to create conflict throughout the novel as he struggles to keep his moral values in check and employ Jews as legislation attacks them.
So far, Schindler's List has provided a very unique story, one that is from a completely different point of view typically found in a novel based on the holocaust. Most novels on the holocaust come from the point of view of a struggling Jew in Germany or the surrounding areas. This novel comes from the point of view of a christian who struggled to save the Jews, a scenario that was thought to be very rare because of the time period and pressure form the Nazi's. I am very interested to see how the story develops and how Schindler continues to attempt to save the Jewish population. I feel the situation will get worse as the story progreses for the Jews and I believe that Schindler will have to think of new and more complicated ways to continue to safe the Jews and employ them in his factory. Schindler's List is one of a kind and I am very satisfied with the story so far, I look forward to continue reading this well-written novel.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
First Thoughts on Schindler's List
I have very high expectations for this novel as it is stated on the cover "The acclaimed #1 bestseller". In addition, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg has been produced based off of this book. The story seems very well-known and renowned which should signal a very good read. In addition, very positive reviews can be seen on the back cover of the book. According to the back cover, Thomas Keneally has written multiple acclaimed books. Based on many factors I can not wait to read through this novel as it seems to be very well-written and thought provoking.
I have a vague understanding of what Schindler's List is completely based on. The story revolves around a character named Oskar Schindler. Schindler was a real person and the story is based on his experiences in saving the Jews that were held in concentration camps by then Nazis during World
War II. The story is primarily fictionalized but provides some scenes based on facts. Oskar Schindler was an industrialist who owned multiple factories in the Czech Republic and Poland. Schindler has been credited with saving thousands of Jews from almost certain death in concentration camps. Schindler was able to convince Nazi officials to place Jews in his factory to work, which had freed many Jews from the concentration camps. This novel focuses on the experiences that Oskar Schindler endured while saving the Jews. Oskar Schindler is still being thanked for his life-risking actions that would save many others in a time of turmoil.
I plan to update this blog weekly and the schedule is as follows:
By 3/4: Pgs. 1-100
By 3/11: Pgs. 101-199
By 3/18: Pgs. 200-295
By 3/25 Pgs. 295-397
Once again, I look forward to a very deep and thoughtful book and am excited to share my thoughts throughout.
-Tristan Marcelis
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