Schindler's List

In my theology class in high school and recently in my history class I have came upon the movie by Stephen Spielberg called Schindler’s List. The movie is based during the time of the holocaust and is based on a true story. I think it is a must see and it really opened my eyes to how horrible the Nazi party was and how much of a good man Oscar Schindler was. In the movie Schindler acquires a factory for the production of army mess kits and pots and pans. Not knowing much about how to properly run such an enterprise, he gains a close collaborator in Itzhak Stern, who has contacts with the Jewish business community and Jews in the black market inside the Ghetto. The Jewish businessmen lend Schindler the money for the factory in return for a small share of products produced. Opening the factory, Schindler pleases the Nazis and enjoys his newfound wealth and status while Stern handles all the administration. Workers in Schindler's factory are allowed outside the ghetto, and Stern falsifies documents to ensure that, as many people as possible are deemed "essential" to the German war effort, which saves them from being transported to concentration or death camps. Changing documents of teachers and rabbis to workers.

Amon Goeth arrives oversee construction of the work camp. Once the camp is completed, he orders the final liquidation of the ghetto.  Hundreds of troops emptying the cramped rooms and arbitrarily murdering anyone who protests or appears uncooperative, elderly or infirm. Schindler, watching the massacre from the hills overlooking the area with his mistress, is profoundly affected. He nevertheless is careful to be good friends with Goeth and, through Stern's attention to bribery, Schindler continues to enjoy Nazi support and protection. During this time, Schindler bribes Goeth into allowing him to build a sub-camp for his workers, so that he can keep his factory running smoothly and protect them from being randomly executed. As time passes, Schindler acts on information provided by Stern to try and save as many lives as he can. As the war shifts, Goeth receives orders commanding him to exhume and destroy the remains of every Jew in the camp, including Schindler's workers, to the Auschwitz concentration camp, which is the worst concentration camp.

Oscar prevails upon Goeth to allow him to keep his workers so that he can move them to a factory in his old home.  Goeth eventually gives in, but charges a massive bribe for each worker. Schindler and Stern assemble a list of workers who are to be kept off the trains to Auschwitz. The train orders get mixed up and send the woman to Auschwitz but Oscar makes sure to save their lives. Once in the factory Oscar does as much as he can to keep them safe by not allowing officers in the factory or shoot anyone. The war ends and the Jews are liberated.