Schindler's List

“Schindler’s List is not just a biography of Oskar Schindler, but it is the story of how good can overcome evil and how charity can overcome greed”.

Schindler’s list tells an incredible twist that happens in the heart of a greedy German businessman, Oskar Schindler. Schindler ran his business on the despair of the Polish-Jewish refugees to make big profits, but in the end, he used his factory and life savings to save the lives of more than a thousand Polish-Jews. His behaviours seem so contradictory, I would say, he is selfish yet so selfless. At times I would like to think that everyone is good deep down and would help people for the sake of helping people rather than for their own interest, however, more than once I was struck by the ugly sides of human nature, it often makes me think that how one could be that inhuman, callous and heartless. But I think that Schindler was kind in his nature, even his initial intention was to make a fortune out of the Jews, he realized his power of what his actions could do and he fully utilized that power to save as many lives of Jews as possible. He went to a great length to help the Jews despite knowing that his actions might cost him his life. I would say such an altruistic act is incredible, and not everyone could do that. Particularly since those he offered helps were not related to him, and most of what we heard was people help their significant others or relatives without asking for any return. What Schindler did has exceeded what one normally would do, I would say, he demonstrated some form of genuine altruism. To many Jews, Schindler was a savior who brought light to the dark, horrifying world. Living in a world where there are so many evils and evil acts, at least the story of Schindler evokes my faith in human nature.

This film contains a lot of disturbing images that provoke sadness and anger. The concept of aggression is seen constantly throughout the movie. There are a lot of verbal and physical aggression intended to hurt Jews, and undoubtedly, these aggressions have brought about serious effect upon their lives. Many Jews were being treated like a worthless human, they were abused, exploited, and many of them were killed during that time through cruel and inhuman methods. This also revealed the stereotype that Jews were inferior to German, and those that perceived themselves as superior, they dominate and take advantage of the Jews. However, it is important to note that the stereotype was not accurate. The stereotype was spread by Nazi propaganda around Germany to fuel the hatred for Jews, because they feel threatened by Jews who were successful and competent. The part that struck me the most was the Nazi people who led by an authoritative leader, Amon Golf who was stand under Adolf Hitler’s command, could act in ways that were so inhuman. It bewildered me how come they could just obeyed the authority from the leader and killed the Jews without thinking again whether it was right to kill those innocent refugees. This has reminded me the Milgram’s experiment, which revealed that people are likely to go in obeying an instruction from an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being. Another experiment that I have been reminded was the Stanford’s prison experiment, which investigated how readily people would conform to the social roles they are expected to play, and it found that the one playing the role of authoritative figure does spur one on to enforce authoritarian measures and act in ways that are inhumane.