I believe Oskar Schindler was a person of concrete and righteous morals. During the savage takeover of Poland by the German Nazis, Schindler used what power he had to protect as many Jews as he could. He risked his life business and possibly his families for a bunch of people who he had never met. He did as much as he could for a group of people who were suffering, even if it cost him his life. I think it is a little hard for our generation to understand what this was really like. I personally believe that a person like that who would stick to their morals even if their life is on the line really shows a type of true virtuousness. Now let me tell you a little bit about him.
Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist who is responsible for the saving of 1000 Jews during the Holocaust. He was born in 1908 in what was at the time the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He stayed in his hometown of Svitavy until finishing high school, at which point he went on to a trade school in Brno. He served in the Czech army until the beginning of World War Two. During the invasion and occupation of Poland he moved to Krakow to take advantage of the takeover of Polish businesses. According to one article “Taking advantage of the German occupation program to “Aryanize” and “Germanize” Jewish-owned and Polish-owned businesses in the so-called General Government”- (The Holocaust Encyclopedia) He bought two Jewish Enamelware factories in Krakow
Now that you know a little bit about Oskar let’s discuss what made his actions moral. After he bought the Enamelware factories he employed about 1700 workers in his “Emilia” factory. Close to 1000 of those were Jews from the Krakow ghetto. Although they were forced laborers and were subjected to horrid conditions, Schindler routinely stuck up for them. He used bribery and diplomacy to protect the safety and to make sure the SS did not find out about his Jewish workers. He not only stuck up for them, but he used his money and influence to protect them.
He risked quite a lot for these people, in fact he was arrested three times but could never be charged. After the redesignation of the Plaszow concentration camp he persuaded the German government to make Emilia a subcamp of Plaszow. He allowed many of his Jewish workers to stay at his factories. This protected many of them from random acts of violence or even murder against them. After the transfer of the Emilia Jews straight into Plaszow he relocated his factories to Monrovia. During which he created a list, the famous namesake of the book and movie, Schindler’s List. This was a list of Jews that were to be transferred to this factory where they would avoid conventional camp life.
Oskar Schindler was a hero. I believe the facts given above truly prove my point. He was arrested three times and routinely risked so much for these people, that in his country he was trained to hate. Also during this time he doubtless risked his reputation. So many people in Germany at this time really despised jews and I am positive that him getting arrested truly destroyed any rapport he had with any neighbors. He risked and practically disintegrated his life for the lives of 1000 Jews. Truly a noble sacrifice, in my eyes.
Works cited
- “Oskar Schindler.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/oskar-schindler.
- Pallardy, Richard. “Oskar Schindler.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Oskar-Schindler.
- Suleyman, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/oskar-schindler.
