Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List Term Paper

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Schindler's List is a 1993 film by Steven Spielberg that focuses on the "contributions" that Oskar Schindler made to the war effort during World War II and the Jewish people that he saved through his business endeavors. While Schindler allies himself with the Nazi Party and several high ranking Nazi officials, he uses these connections to hire specific Jews to work in his various businesses, first of which is an enamelware factory and the second of which is a munitions factory. Throughout the entire film, Spielberg manages to dramatically capture the plight that Jews underwent in Poland during World War II, specifically how they were dehumanized by the Nazis and forced first to give up their possessions and live in the ghettos and then forced from the ghettos to labor, concentration, or death camps. However, despite the fact that all, or most, material objects were forcefully ripped from Jews, the one thing that the Nazis could not take away from them was their culture and traditions, which play a prominent role in the film.

In the film, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is initially depicted as being an opportunist who will do anything in his power to gain favor with high (er) ranking Nazi officials who will eventually enable him to profit from the war and the cheap labor, Jews, that is available to him. In order to profit from a war, one must have a business that is in demand, therefore, Schindler moves to open an enamelware factory that will not only benefit him financially, but also provide supplies to Nazi soldiers. In order to open a business, Schindler enlists the help of an extremely competent accountant, Iztak Stern (Ben Kingsley), who happens to have connections with formerly successful Jewish business leaders. With the help of Stern, Schindler acquires the investors necessary to bankroll his enamelware endeavor and subsequently hires Jews to work for him because they are the workforce that requires the lowest amount of payment, which of course they will never see, however, Schindler compensates them by paying them in pots and pans which he contends they can trade in the ghetto for goods that they need (Schindler's List).

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Eventually, there comes a time when the ghettos need to be condensed into a single ghetto and eventually evacuated altogether. It is during this time that SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes) is brought in to oversee the evacuation of the ghettos and the construction of the P-aszow concentration camp, which he will run once it has been completed. With his labor force relocated to a concentration camp, Schindler is forced to shut down his enamelware factory, however, he is not out of business long before he opens an munitions factory that employs the same Jews that were previously working for him. Ultimately, through his efforts and the almost exclusive employment of Jews, Schindler managed to save approximately 1,200 people from certain death (The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise).

One of the most tragic things about the events depicted in the film is that Jews were persecuted because of their beliefs and traditions, which had been practiced for countless generations. Jews were persecuted and executed not because of their nationality, but rather because Nazi's believed that the ultimate Jewish goal was world domination, which directly conflicted with the Nazi's quest for Aryan dominance (The Simon Weisenthal Center). Despite the fact that it is their religion that has made them targets and the atrocities they witness and experience, the Jewish peoples in Schindler's List hold on to their beliefs, which Spielberg spectacularly highlights in both the editing of the film and in the film's narrative.

Two important Jewish practices, the Shabbat and the placing of stones on Schindler's grave at the end of the film frame the film's narrative. Traditionally, the Shabbat is intended to be a practice of remembrance and observance and is held to be a day of rest and spiritual enrichment (Rich). The depiction of the practice of Shabbat at the beginning of the film serves to establish Spielberg's intentions in making Schindler's List. The film does not intend to glorify Schindler's profiteering, but….....

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