Historical Accuracy Of Schindler's Ark

Schindler’s list is a 1993 American epic historical period drama film, directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is based on the novel ‘Schindler’s Ark’ by Thomas Keneally, which is based on 50 eye witness accounts of the Holocaust. This film, by nature, is historically inaccurate thus, its reliability undermined, as it is only loosely based on the fiction, “Schindler’s ark”, whose author only took inspiration from the accounts of the 50 eye witnesses of Holocaust. Furthermore, due to the film’s time constraint, only one story is presented within the period of the holocaust with storyline simplified and details diminished. Additionally, in order to make this movie more entertaining, Steven Spielberg mixed facts and fiction for dramatic effects.

Schindler's List is considered to be one of the most powerful movies of all time. It presents the indelible true story of enigmatic German businessman Oskar Schindler, who became a life savior of more than 1100 Jews who had been tortured under the cruel Nazi reign. As a German

Catholic war profiteer, Oskar Schindler moved to Krakow in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. There he opens an enamelware factory. As war progresses, the discrimination towards Jews becomes more extreme, Schindler's devotion to self-interest was supplanted by a desire to protect as many Jews as possible. This desire ultimately grew into 'Schindler's List,' which recorded the names of more than 1100 Jews he saved.

Schindler’s list is a film of epic fantasy, yet it is not historical reliable and accuracy as it is based on a historical fiction, “Schindler’s ark” by Thomas Keneally.

In order to write an engaging story for the audience, Keneally utilized old photos taken from the Jewish victims of the Holocaust to create scenes in the fiction thus many of his characters are fictional, scenes are inspired by photo chosen at random and events may have been combined or changed to suit the storyline. For example, the little girl in red named Genia, who played a significant role in the moral transformation of Oskar Schindler. It was said that she was taken to the Plac Zgody roundup, where Schindler was watching from the hill, yet in reality, she was taken near the Optima factory so Schindler couldn’t have seen her from the hill. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that due to the inaccuracy of the novel, the film’s historical reliability is also reduced

noticeably.

Time constraint is a major factor underpinning the undermined reliability of the film, Schindler’s list, as many scenes were either shortened or combined to fit the time frame. One example will be one of the powerful scenes that revealed women and children been stripped and forced to go into a large shower room. As many of the audience may have known, people were killed in gas chambers that were disguised as showers. Thus there is tension surrounding and the women had expressions of fear, but were relieved when the the water comes on. At this stage, the scene implies that the women had knowledge of the gas chambers yet in reality, very few people know about any mass-scale murder in concentration camps, let alone deaths in gas chambers disguised as showers until much later. Therefore, it is obvious that Steven Spielberg quickened the pace of the events and blend some scenes together to fit the film into three hours.

As a prominent Hollywood producer, Steven Spielberg’s job does not only include the revival of the truth of the holocaust, but also money. A movie has to be entertaining in order to attract audience and make profit thus many of the scenes were exaggerated to intensify the suspense and emotional provocation in the film. A notable example will be the depiction of a crematory chimney at Auschwitz spewing smoke and flame, which crematories are especially constructed not to do. Another instance of dramatization in the film will be the ending when Schindler is shown to be penniless at the end of the war, however in reality he a substantial amount of money when he went into hiding. As a result, it is shown that an extensive amount of scenes given in the film is embellished and twisted to be more engaging and confronting to bring a strong visual impact to the audience.

In conclusion, the film, Schindler’s list is neither historically accurate nor reliable as the content is constructed primarily under the influence of a fiction, “Schindler’s ark” which is written with reference to accounts from Jewish eye witnesses of the Holocaust, thus reduced the reliability of the film. Also, because of the film’s time restriction, the storyline is simplified significantly and details are dismissed, so the truth is unable to be revived completely. Additionally, dramatic effects and cinematic techniques are employed to intensify the plot and provoke emotional response with the purpose of entertainment therefore facts and fiction are combined to achieve this.