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.