Schindler's List

The Holocaust was a time of horrible cruelty. Millions of people were forced into atrocious conditions and suffered unspeakable treatment. They were treated worse than cattle, losing their identity. The German people after the war also lost their individual identities. Even though most of the population had no idea what was going on, they were blamed and stereotyped as monsters for the actions of a small group. Schindler’s List (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg, tells the story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who was different than the Nazi party, saving thousands of Jews from slaughter during the Holocaust and giving them back their identities. Steven Spielberg, through the use of symbolism, wide angle, long angle, and handheld camera shots, and black and white filming, shows the importance of individualization in contrast to the dehumanization of the Holocaust, and how that distinction caused extreme cases of death and chaos. Though the movie does alter Oskar Schindler to make him more like the stereotypical protagonist, it is still a good historical movie because the outcome is the same: over 1,000 Jewish men, women, and children saved because of Schindler’s actions.

Dehumanization was one of the main goals of the Holocaust, and the movie shows it well. The largest symbol of this is the lists used throughout the movie. This is shown not only in the title, but in multiple close ups of the various lists in the movie. Lists are constant part of the Jews’ lives. It tells them who goes, who stays, who lives, and who dies. The lists diminish the Jews to just names, just inventory to move around. It strips them of their personality.

As the Jews are shipped out of the ghetto, their personal items are taken, supposedly to be ...

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...umstances does not justify an event like this to ever happen again. The dehumanization greatly outnumbered the individualization, and the hardship must never be discounted. The important thing to get out of a movie like this is that there is a balance. Even though it seems like individualization wins out in the end, one can never know how much personal freedom is actually gained after the Holocaust is over, by both the Jewish victims and the naive German population alike.

Works Cited

Roberts, Jack L. The Importance of Oskar Schindler. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1996. Print.

Smith, Diitia. "Book Adds Layers of Complexity to the Schindler Legend." The New York Times 24 Nov. 2004: n. pag. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.

Whalen, John. "Schindler's List (1993)." Based on a True Story: Fact and Fantasy in 100 Favorite Movies. By Jonathan Vankin. Chicago: Cappella, 2005. 422-27. Print.