Schindlers List. Schindler's List is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power and the on going war
Schindler’s List The movie begins in September of 1939 in Krakow, Poland, with the Jewish community under increasing pressure from the Nazis. Schindler's List is based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power and the on going war. He wants to starts a company backed by Jews who can no longer own businesses to make cookware and utensils. Schindler brings in accountant and financier Itzhak Stern to help run the factory. March 1941, the Krakow Jewish community gets forced into living in "the Ghetto". Once again list makers set up there tables and dived the Jews and give then housing assignments. Thinking it couldn’t get any worse, they didn’t realize these list makers would slowly begin to eliminate this group into only a thousand. Now that money no longer had any meaning and couldn’t help them anymore, the elders with substantial money agreed to invest in Schindler's factory and the DEF (Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik) is born. A long with convincing these wealthy Jews he uses flattery and
bribes to win military contracts and get in good with high military officials. Schindler “hires” Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, because they are cheaper then Poles. He pays them by pots and pans along with other materials they use to barter for food and such. However, what the Jews are getting is more valuable then money or food, they are gaining and protecting their lives. His accountant Stern becomes close with Schindler and Stern catches on quick, he uses Schindlers factory to get friends in and draws up fake documents to make sure some of ...
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bribes to win military contracts and get in good with high military officials. Schindler “hires” Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, because they are cheaper then Poles. He pays them by pots and pans along with other materials they use to barter for food and such. However, what the Jews are getting is more valuable then money or food, they are gaining and protecting their lives. His accountant Stern becomes close with Schindler and Stern catches on quick, he uses Schindlers factory to get friends in and draws up fake documents to make sure some of them are working in the DEF. Things don’t stay this “good” for long. In March 1943, all of Krakow's Jews "liquidated" from the Ghetto with the survivors being herded into the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp. The Nazi partys intentions towards the Jews are no longer a secret, as a lot of them are executed, and others are shipped away by train only to add to the millions of deaths at the end. For the surviving Schindler factory workers however it is far from over. Schindler has managed to get in good with the local commander, Amon Goeth, who is a hypocritical, border line crazy villain and alcoholic who occasionally for no reason shoots prisoners from his balcony. Using his relationship with Goeth, Schindler arranges to continue using these Jews in his plant, but, as he sees what is happening to his employees and what they are going through in the camp, he begins to develop a conscience.We see him warming up when he saves Stern from being sent away into a concentration camp. He then saves a young womans parents by allowing them to work in the plant after she personally comes to him and asks. We also think that after Schindler has a talk with Goeth about what true power is that he has changed. We see Goeth “pardoning” the Jews and being nice to his Jewish maid who he has come to lust for. Then just when you think there is hope, you realize people can’t change as ki lls the boy for not being able to clean his bathtub. Schindler begins to secretly campaign to help the Jews, saving men, women, and children. He hits a wall however when Goeth tells him that he has orders to move all these Jews to Auschwitz. He realizes that everything going on isn’t right and wants to help. This is where we see Schindler and Stern drawing up “Schindler’s list” 1000 plus names in which Schindler ends up paying for. He buys the Jews from Goeth and sets up his factory once more after having to get back a train that got mistakenly sent to Auschwitz. However, he realizes that his factory now making “ammunition” is never going to be able to produce a single efficient shell. So he starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. Soon enough though he runs out of money, but luckily the Germans fall to the allies. At the end of the movie he is left with no money, just a car and a gold ring from his worker. Schindler breaks down wishing and thinking he could have saved more Jews but he had done enough he saved around 1,200 Jews and today 6,000 Jews are decedents of the “Schindler Jews”. One of the few color scenes is a close-up of a hand lighting votive candles with a match before the war in a Jewish family's home on a Friday night Sabbath. After the singing of a prayer/incantation, the two Shabbat candles burn down as they sit in solitary on a table.This isn’t the only scene in which we see singing of prayer and the Sabbath being practiced. During this movie you also see this practice when Schindler pulls the rabbi out of work and asks him shouldn’t he be preparing for the Sabbath. Right after that we once again see the rabbi and other in the factory around the table, candles, and wine in prayer. The Sabbath evening ritual usually consists of the table set with at least two candles, a glass of wine, and at least two loaves of challah. The challah loaves should be whole, and should be covered with a bread cover, towel or napkin. Candles should be lit no later than 18 minutes before sundown. At least two candles should be lit, representing the dual commandments to remember and to keep the Sabbath. The candles are lit by the woman of the household. After lighting, she waives her hands over the candles, welcoming in the Sabbath. Then she covers her eyes, so as not to see the candles before reciting the blessing, and recites the blessing. The hands are then removed from the eyes, and she looks at the candles, completing the mitzvah of lighting the candles. There is also blessing of the children and the reciting of the Kiddush. The Film also showed a scene of a wedding. This was my first time seeing this movie and it was a good look into what happened, what followers of Jud aism have gone through, their practice of Hebrew, rituals, and belief in their faith.