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Essay / Understanding the Holocaust through “Schindler's List”
The worst genocide in history must be called the Holocaust. The Holocaust is described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a sacrifice consumed by fire" or "a mass massacre of people." (Holocaust) The torture began in 1933 and lasted for over a decade ending in 1945. Adolfo Hitler, who was the Nazi leader, specifically chose the Jewish people as his scapegoat. He also catered to those who were gay and had other religious beliefs. Jews were forced from their homes and separated from their families, men on one side and women with their children on the other. Later, it got to the point where he chose to take anyone who happened to come across his path. Many people tried to help and save the Jewish people. Some did not succeed and others, like the Swedish government and Oskar Schindler, managed to save some Jews. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Swedish government offered asylum to around 7,000 Jews in Denmark. After being rescued, about a month later, authorities were warned of Germany's invasion of Denmark and urged the Jews to quickly go into hiding. Fisherman's ferries were organized to supplement the effort of smuggling Jews from Denmark to Sweden. (Denmark Rescue) Oskar Schindler also saved around 1,200 Jews. He owned a factory that made enamel utensils that created plates and bowls. In a movie created on Oskar Schindler's Schindler's List, there was a scene that showed Jews working in his factory and the factories actually created a "soup pot". Schindler owned a factory which is still a museum today and is called “Fabryka Oskara Schindlera-Emalia”. Oskar employed many, many Jews and he treated them so well. He fed them and never let them starve and he made sure they always had clothes and lacked nothing. Overall, Oskar had a lot of respect for his employees and never mistreated them. In the film, there was a scene in which Jews were ordered to be relocated and in this ruckus, his employees, including his accountant Itzhak Stern, were taken away without a trace. Once Oskar knew about this, he took matters into his own hands and confronted all the officials and after many threats, they finally released all of his employees and he was able to bring them back to the factory. Throughout the film, I was truly filled with many mixed emotions. and at certain points in the film I was at a loss for words. I definitely had questions that I kept asking, like why didn't Schindler create more factories and hire more Jews? Even if he was only interested in the money he made, I'm sure he would have saved many more Jews from the horrible massacre that occurred outside the factory. The film was created in pure black and white, so when I came across the scene where there was a windup, there was a little girl that we were focusing on for a glimpse and she was wearing a red coat. I'm sure everyone who saw the movie questioned this specific part. I concluded that the scene was created to signify the death of these young, innocent children like her. It saddens me to know that even in this disaster, young children were involved and those who were callous and careless did not care whether there were children or not. They obeyed orders and did as they were told. There are a few scenes where Jews.