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...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now