Analysis Of The Main Ideas In The Film Schindler’s List
The people of the United States have a different understanding of what happened in Germany during the 1920’s and to the 1940’s. The perspective U.S. citizens have is from films that were in black, white and came to understand that the holocaust was life without any light. The film Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg features the main protagonist Oskar Schindler, a German businessman at that time who originally started as a Nazi collaborator and later became a hero who saved many lives because of his actions. The film shows how Schindler was able to help many Polish Jews and saving them from the Nazi authorities who were keen on taking them away to labor and death camps. The resistance that Schindler was able to make was certainly not of violent means, but very effective in saving lives.
The conflicting duality of progress and humanity in Schindler’s List questions the fascist aesthetic. First, an important main idea is the film is showing that nonviolence against Nazism did occur, and even if it were poorly coordinated, it was still quite remarkably effective. The film really demonstrated how Schindler was able to help out the people by hiring them at his factory this was by nonviolent means. A important quote from the article Nonviolent Resistance to Nazi Germany: what occurred and what could have occurred by Marty Branagan “The White Rose movement, consisting mainly of students such as siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl, began a moral protest to start eroding German people’s faith in Hitler. They concentrated on underground media, distributing thousands of leaflets around Germany, urging sabotage, non-cooperation and refusal to fund the Nazi Party. Part of their strategy was to give the impression of a much larger opposition, a tactic which was later very successful for the 1990s’ Otpor movement in Serbia.
At a time of declining German military morale, the widespread White Rose leaflets were creating the greatest disturbance at the highest levels of the Party and the State”. The White Rose emerged from a core group of students who attended the University of Munich. The students were able to take action in the form of a printing press and leaflets. The students got their hands on a manual printing press and began spreading leaflets. The article by Branagan is stating that the White Rose movement was clearly very effective in bringing change through means of nonviolence just as Schindler had in his own way. Furthermore, another important quote from the same article by Mary Branagan “A possible reason for the popular dismissal of nonviolence against Nazism is how historians have viewed the period. There is plenty of contemporary scholarship on German resistance to Nazism, but usually from a perspective that misunderstands nonviolence and its efficacy, often incorrectly equating it with pacifism and inaction”. The quote states that nonviolence is usually not considered an effective means to stop horrible things from occurring, but nonviolence is a effective means. The idea of nonviolence is really important to the overall theme of what makes Schindler’s List and what it teaches I believe.
Second, an important main idea is the film explains the idea that in Schindler's list is the theme of good vs evil. One of the main ways this theme is shown is through the characters of Oskar Schindler and Amon Goeth. Oskar Schindler would have been an easier man to understand if he'd been a conventional hero, fighting for his beliefs. The fact that he was flawed - a drinker, a gambler, a womanizer, driven by greed and a lust for high living - makes his life an enigma. A man who saw his chance at the beginning of World War II and moved to Nazi-occupied Poland to open a factory and employ Jews at starvation wages; and his goal was to become a millionaire. By the end of the war, he had risked his life and spent his fortune to save those Jews and had defrauded the Nazis for months with a munitions factory that never produced a single usable shell. An important quote from Nonviolent Resistance to Nazism: Norway, 1940-1945 by Paul Wehr “A social conflict is also characterized by the dynamic of interaction. One party initiates, another responds. One party exerts pressure, another resists. Each party’s behavior is determined in part by the other’s actions”. The author Paul is correct when this statement is made because when a certain action is taken in real life than another party must respond in some way; it is a good way that Schindler chose to respond by helping his workers and seeing the workers as people. Furthermore, another important quote from the same article suggests “Norwegian civilian resistance was not effective for territorial defense, but it did prohibit the Nazification of the basic institutions of Norwegian society”. The quote I believe really helps to explain how nonviolent actions by good intentions can work against the evil that a society is capable of producing.
Third, an important main idea is the film explains that the Nazis were big on national and racial identity. The Nazis loved labels and uniforms and classification. They considered Jews a racial group, not a religious one. Anyone with so much as a Jewish grandparent was considered a Jew. Because the Nazis consider Schindler one of their own, they're blind to what he's doing. No one of their own in the Nazis would lift a finger to save Jews. In Schindler's List, Schindler makes a point of announcing his identity with the Nazi lapel pin, and hides behind it. A important quote from the article Rescuing Memory by Jorge, Stacey “In general, the attitude towards Nazi Germany was not that hostile, especially if you look at the U.S. State Department reports. In 1937 the State Department was describing Adolf Hitler as a “moderate” who was holding off the forces of the right and the left”. The quote is trying to state in my opinion that even the state department and parts of the U.S. government were not taking the threat of the Nazi seriously instead the people at the state department saw this conflict in Europe with the Nazis as a chance to profit. The Nazis were certainly big on identity and they cared lots for it as their actions showed throughout their chance with power. Another important quote from the same article was that “When I was growing up in the 1930s and ’40s anti-Semitism was rampant. It wasn’t like Nazi Germany but it was pretty serious — it was part of life”. The author intentions in this quote are meaning to say that even in the United States where the idea of freedom is supposed to be alive there clearly were traces of fascism present. The traces of fascism here in the United States were no different than that kind of fascism that existed in Europe except it was in a different form.
Fourth, an important main idea is that Nazis used mass communication to express the message they wanted to send in Europe and to everyone around the world. The means of mass communication were crucial in any party in expressing a message. Media is a significant force within modern culture. Culture can be defined as the norms and values of a society. In our culture, the communications media hold an influential place in disseminating information, forming attitudes, and motivating behaviour. Technological advances are increasing the role of the media and its capacity to shape public opinion. Our society depends on the news media to provide information to help us form opinions and make voting decisions. A important quote from the journal Nazi indoctrination and anti-semitic beliefs in Germany “'The extent to which Nazi schooling worked depends crucially on whether the overall environment where children grew up was already a bit anti-Semitic,' said Voth. 'It tells you that indoctrination can work, it can last to a surprising extent, but the way it works has to be compatible to something people already believe’’. The author claims in this quote that indoctrination can be easily done by any party that wants to achieve their interests. The idea is not too different to be expressed to the political scene of today with different actors wanting to in a sense use indoctrination to achieve their mean. Do the advantages of Mass Media outweigh the disadvantages? I believe anyone who has a means of controlling the mass media will do so for their self interests. The evolution of mass communications has gone through major developments; from etching the beginnings of an alphabet into a rock the size of a standard dinner table to letting a computer words.
In conclusion, the final main point I would like to make is that the world has a lot to learn from what the film Schindler’s List teaches. The film makes one learn the horror of fascism, but also the aspects of humanity that are good. A important main quote from the article The Lessons of Auschwitz “Lesson one: Reject the lies told to us, especially the ones that fly in the face of reality and aim to annihilate rather than rescue us. This sign must be remembered each and every time our delegation enters the negotiating room to be solicitously asked for still more concessions”. The statement is important because this statement applies just as much today as it would have during the time Schindler was alive. Oskar Schindler is a legend for all men, women and children who have crossed his path in the Krakow ghetto, or later in the labor and extermination camps. The author does a remarkable job at capturing such a powerful time in history, and at capturing Schindler as well. The film points out, Schindler wasn't perfect, he had his flaws, but the atrocities of war opened his eyes and he did something so brave that most people would never be able to imagine. Despite being a member of the Nazi Party, he used this position as a guise to secretly save lives.
Works Cited
- Branagan, Marty. “Nonviolent Resistance to Nazi Germany: What Occurred and What Could Have Occurred.” Social Alternatives, vol. 33, no. 4, Oct. 2014, pp. 31–38.
- Danon, Danny. “The Lessons of Auschwitz.” Washington Jewish Week, vol. 50, no. 5, 30 Jan. 2014, p. 16.
- Majfud, Jorge. “Rescuing Memory.” Humanist, vol. 76, no. 4, July 2016, p. 18.
- Wehr, Paul. “Nonviolent Resistance to Nazism: Norway, 1940-45.” Peace & Change, vol. 10, no. 3/4, Fall/Winter 84 1984, p. 77.
- Voigtländer, Nico, and Hans-Joachim Voth. “Nazi Indoctrination and Anti-Semitic Beliefs in Germany.” Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, vol. 112, no. 26, June 2015, pp. 7931–7936.
