Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Oskar Schindler: A Hero

I just completed watching the movie the Schindler's list...I consider this to be one of the best movies I have ever seen and he is a hero i will not forget till i am dead. I have been thinking how a particular human being, race or community can unconditionally hate and be so stoical to atrocities committed to the other. The movie was about the holocaust during the world war 2 where the german army (nazis) brutally killed and tortured jews. Among these nazis was a good man, infact a great man called Oskar Schindler. As the movie's name suggests, the movie is about the list of almost 1200 people Schindler saved from the clutches of the cruel germans.

The holocaust is the highest degree of brutality that mankind could have ever exhibited. Old men, childeren, women who were of no use to the nazis were burnt alive. People were randomly murdered for no reason or for being unlucky to be born as jew. Only those jews who could work or were fit enough to work were allowed to live. Even they had to pray to ensure they had a tomorrow that they can live for. Among these circumstances, a man called Oskar Schindler established a factory called DEF (Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik). His factory was a haven for the jews and he struggled relentlessly to save them from the onslaught. He bribed, pleaded and got arrested for the noble cause of saving his employees. By the end of the war Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his workers. I have read that more than 4000 descendants of the Schindler saved jews live in Poland today.


Grave of Oskar Schindler with stones depicting
the number people who worship him

The movie depicts the story of this great man who was like the noah of ark for these jews. The most touching part of the movie is when he explains to his manager how he could have saved more people if he had not wasted money all along his life and if he had not worried about saving his material belongings.

One of the dialogues from the movie: "This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern(manager). For this. I could have gotten one more person … and I didn't! And I … I didn't!"

Watch it to believe it.

P.S: The movie is rated R for explicit content and violence throughout the movie.