Sandy Supposes....

Schindler's List

Prompt: Motivational Monday! Newspaper columnist Mike Royko, born on this day back in 1932, once said, "Hollywood is right. A good and strong movie can have a more powerful social impact than any and all political speeches or newspaper editorials and columns." Tell us about a movie that has had a more profound impact on you in terms of politics, social justice, morality, or just plain old " doing the right thing".

         Well, I believe the 1993 movie ' Schindler's List' satisfies the above criteria. The action takes place in Nazi-occupied Poland during WW II with a Czech born man named Oskar Schindler. He deigns to join the Nazi party to curry political and profitable gains. He sets up a factory to manufacture mess kits for the German army using cheap Jewish labour. Eventually, he comes to care for his workforce, and he protects his Jewish employees by convincing the Nazis they are integral to his factory, and the war effort. Secretly, it is a Jew who runs the business.It is believed that Schindler saved 1100 Jews by pretending to exploit them. At the end of the war, his grateful workers gifted him with a ring inscribed with a Talmudic quotation, " He who saves the life of one man, saves the world entire." Because he had portrayed a Nazi profiteer so convincingly, he had to flee in advance of the Russians routing the German army. Later, after his death, he was buried in Israel where he had been declared " a righteous person".

         This phenomenal movie showcased the deplorable living conditions and treatment of Polish Jews, everyday they faced the prospect of certain death. They were persecuted because of their beliefs, and few acted to alleviate their suffering, and/ or save them. I suppose many people feared retaliation from the Nazis, and others sought monetary gain.

         Schindler took great risk to ensure the safety, and ultimately the lives of his Jewish employees. He probably realized that realistically he could only save a limited number.Apparently, he even dared to set standards of behaviour for the German guards at his factory.He insisted that the Jews be free to come and go without fear of beatings, and mistreatment. In the end, he did not profit from his wartime business.

         Schindler was a man who did the right thing, he valued lives more than money.He defied political propoganda, and religious persecution.He did not have to be Jewish to recognize their worth as a people.