The Fake Truth About Oskar Sch
It is easy to believe what you have not seen, and even easier to believe what lies before you eyes. Steven Spielberg's historic film Schindler's List has undoubtedly affected and persuaded millions of viewers into accepting Oskar Schindler as a hero. Through the memories of those who knew him, along with historic documents and facts, the film can be said to possess a factual recollection of this historic figure. Although there are minor discrepancies between the historical facts, the novel, and the film, Spielberg's version concerning Oskar Schindler is a reliable source for the truth behind this mysterious man. Even though the novel and the film are fiction, they present a reliable truth about Schindler's life and his actions during the Holocaust. The film is based on the novel written by Thomas Keneally. This strips the film of its credibility as a documentary because both film and novel present fictional dialogue. However, both Keneally and Spielberg interviewed witnesses in an effort to make Schindler's story as historically correct as possible. In the novel, Keneally states in his author's note:I have attempted ... to avoid all fiction, since fiction would debase the record, and to distinguish between the reality a
nd the myths which are likely to attach themselves to a man of Oskar's stature. He does not seem to care about the Jews and their losses because their losses became his gains. This act alone is noble and praiseworthy, but Schindler retracts his kindness by telling his accountant, "What if I got here five minutes later, then where would I be" (Schindler's List)? Schindler makes his accountant believe that the rescue was for his personal well being, disregarding the danger that awaited his Jewish accountant at the train's last stop. Schindler may have been a good man, a hero, and now a legend in the memory of his Jewish friends, but he still remains a mystery to the rest of the world. This shows that Schindler had a human heart beating inside his chest. The little that is known about him can give us hints into his thinking and actions, but they can never really tell us of his true motives. It is important to note that Spielberg was forced to compress an entire novel's story into a three-hour film. Aside from Schindler's infidelity, "she has 'some good memories' of her husband - but 'not many'" (43). The film introduces Schindler as a rich Nazi. As one of Schindler's Jews, Bernard Scheuer, recalls: "when he saw cruelty, he didn't like it" (Qtd. However, "Spielberg's Schindler is simply another Nazi who regards the killing of Jewish slaves as a senseless business practice" (Gourevitch 50). According to moral standards, this man was a monster whose only sense of self worth was to be as powerful as he could be.
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Acceptance Essays
