Schindler’s List retells the heroic actions of Oskar Schindler. Once a poor Czechoslovakian businessman, Oskar Schindler sees the oncoming world war as a chance to reinvigorate his life by taking advantage of the Nazi regime’s hatred towards Jews. Oskar would find great success in his munitions factory by through securing large deals from Nazi officers, due to his close connections, and his use of cheap Jewish labor.
However, as Oskar beared witness to more and more heinous crimes committed against the Jews, Oskar could no longer stand by while thousands of innocent Jews were slaughtered at the hand of Nazis. This would change Oskar’s goal from trying to make a fortune by taking advantage of the Jews to attempting to save as many Jews as possible. From this it is evident that Oskar Schindler is the hero from Schindler’s List as he single handedly saved thousands of lives.
Truly one of the greatest heroes to come out of the Holocaust, Oskar Schindler risked everything to save all the Jews he could. Initially indifferent about the poor treatment of the Jews, Schindler would change his ways and work to save the Jews, only adding to his greatness displaying his change of heart to do what is just even when it is against his well-being. Schindler’s disregard for the life of the Jews in at the beginning of the film can be seen during his meeting with the old man with one arm who wanted the thank him.
Rather than being receptive to the praise he received, Schindler was angered by this man as he was a liability to the profits he was so keen on making. However after seeing the cruel clearance of the Jewish ghettos, specifically the little girl in the red dress, Schindler sees just how disgusting and inhumane the Nazi’s truly are and is determined to make a difference. After several lucrative contracts with the Nazi’s Schindler had amasses a massive fortune, one large enough to buy the lives of over a thousand Jews.
Not only this, but after saving their lives by giving them use in the ammunition factory, Schindler would go about and offset many of the machines to make his bullets and guns ineffective in combat, helping the Allied war effort. This scheme despite being ingenious was tremendously costly and while Schindler had a rather impressive fortune, he ran broke by the end of the war. This only shows his hero like characteristics even more though, as he sacrificed everything he has owned simply to save the lives of people he knew nothing about, thus truly making Schindler the hero of Schindler’s List.
In summation, the hero of Steven Spielberg’s, Schindler’s List, is non other than Oskar Schindler. His actions during the Holocaust is nothing short of a real-life Superman, as he sacrificed everything, both his money and lifestyle, to save the lives of Jews. Had it not been for Schindler’s strong mental fortitude and ability to place people above himself, many of the Jews seen in the film, including Itzhak Stern would have been killed in the many mass murderers that took place.
While others may argue that Schindler was not a true hero as his just intention did not come about until after his viewing of the Nazi crimes, to many others this only proves that Schindler is the hero as it takes twice the courage for an ordinary man to go above and beyond to reinforce the law than a law enforcing office who had trained their whole lives to protect and preserve the sanctity of not only laws but human rights.
