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.