Schindler’s List A film by S teven Spielberg

1. Schindler’s ListA film by Steven Spielberg By: Kyle Sonderer 2nd period Mrs. Worrell

2. Summary Oskar Schindler was a greedy businessman that only thought about money. He made wealth on the expense of the Jews’ lives by creating a company that made pots and pans. The Jews worked for free while he used a Jewish accountant, Itzhak Stern, to account for his earnings. Schindler successfully built a relationship with the German officers, along with briberies solely to benefit his personal and business needs. In an unexpected turning event, his tactics eventually aided him in saving roughly 1,100 Jews. Schindler became their hero and is forever remembered under a quote from the Jews: Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.

3. Exposition/Introduction Main Characters Setting/Time • Oskar Schindler • Itzhak Stern • Amon Goth • Helen Hirsch • Emilie Schindler • Poldek Pfefferberg • Time: 1939 – 1945 • Place: Krakow, Poland

4. Main Conflict/Plot Oskar Schindler is trying to save as many Jews as possible from the Nazis or they will be severely dehumanized and executed. At the same time, he is trying not to get caught himself.

5. Rising Action Oskar Schindler, a businessman, is making a living off the war in Germany. He witnessed the increasing violence of the Nazis towards the Jews. These events started to take over and transformed him from a once greedy and heartless man to a sympathetic, caring man. He recruited them as employees to save them from further cruelties and death.

6. Climax Schindler witnessed the Liquidation of the ghetto known as Krakow Ghetto. He watched the horrible sight of a lost, little girl in a red coat all by herself among the chaos. Almost immediately, this event opened his eyes to realize he is not like the Nazis and must do something to prevent the evilness.

7. Falling Action After all the horrible events he witnessed, he soon realized his factory is the only thing that had been keeping most of the Jews from getting executed. Words soon spread of his factory being a “haven”. Because of that, it gave him a new meaning of fulfillment. He started to bribe other German soldiers with expensive gifts and luxuries to recruit certain Jews.

8. Denouement After further witnesses to ashes in the air from cremations of the Jews and more dead bodies, including the dead body of the little girl in the red coat, Schindler finally concluded to a different “rescue” approach. He ordered Stern to type out a lengthy list of names of the prisoners in the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp. He bought the prisoners from the ruthless SS leader, Amon, and brought them back to his factory for safety, even if just temporary. During the process of the transportation, the women were sent to Auschwitz in error. To get them back, Schindler traded diamonds for their safety. In the end, Schindler went broke using all his money to save 1,100 Jews. He died penniless, but to the Jews, he will always be known as a brave, heroic person that risked his life for them.

9. Aftermath • Born: April 28, 1908 • Died: October 9, 1974 at the age of 66; he died penniless • Oskar wanted to be buried in Jerusalem when he died as he said, “My children are here.” • Oskar spent his whole fortune on saving the Jews; he was broke to his death • He tried unsuccessfully to start other businesses like the cement factory, but later become bankrupt in 1961. • The Jews he saved honored him as a hero and will always remember him as a family member and under their quote “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” It is a shame that a man like Schindler whom devoted such an extraordinary accomplishment died penniless and without full recognition like I think he should’ve. We heard of Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Anne Frank, etc., but we really never heard of Oskar Schindler. He saved 1,100 Jews from inhumane execution. I wonder if he would’ve earned larger national recognition if the movie had been made prior to his death. We will never know since the movie was made in November 30, 1993, 32 years after his death. But to the Jews he is their hero whom they will always remember.

10. Reaction After watching the movie, I have a whole new aspect of life. I look at life a little differently now than how I did before. We wake up everyday thinking that we have problems/issues in our lives, but the real truth is that we have no earthly idea what an actual problem is. We have no idea to what extent it was like to experience the Holocaust like the Jews. We were never beaten, worked to death, starved, mistreated, especially torn from our families. We have the clueless idea of what that must have felt like. So all I’m saying is that we should all be thankful that we were born in America today instead of being born in Germany as a Jew during the terrible, nightmare of American history.