Oskar Schindler's List Essay

Schindler’s List was probably one of the most intense and harrowing movies I have ever seen. It was not only powerful, but inspirational as well. It gave a glimpse into what life was like for some of the Jews during World War II. I found it interesting to watch as Oskar Schindler transforms throughout the movie. In the beginning he sets out for Krakow for selfish reasons, to make money and secure war contracts with the Nazi’s. It is during this time that he meets his accountant, Itzhak Stern, with whom he eventually convinces to help run his business. He begins bribing the Jewish people to invest their own money to get it started. Little does Mr. Schindler know that the money he takes from the Jew’s in the beginning is the same money
Stern goes rummaging through the streets looking for workers to bring to the factory. Little does Mr. Schindler know, was that Mr. Stern was looking for Jews who would otherwise be picked first for the death camps, making them “essential” Jews in the workplace, saving them in the beginning. It is not until Mr. Stern brings the one arm man into Mr. Schindler’s office that he realizes what Mr. Stern was up to. Unfortunately Mr. Stern was unable to save him when the Nazi’s pulled up with snow shovels and the one arm man was proven to be unessential to them and their labor needs, shooting him dead in the middle of the street. Mr. Schindler realizes he lost one of his own and fights for that to never happen again. One of the turning points I think for Mr. Schindler was when Mr. Stern forgot his paperwork and was loaded onto a train headed for the concentration camps. Mr. Schindler panics at the thought of losing his right hand man because he knows of the potential dangers that await him if he cannot get him off that train in time. Mr. Stern was an essential part of Mr. Schindler’s business. He uses his power and clout with the Nazi guards at the train station threatening their lives and jobs, until he eventually is able to find Itzhak aboard the