Oskar Schindler: A Hero Study
Uploaded by Groovin83 on Sep 12, 2000
CONFLICT AND RELEVANT BACKGROUND
Oskar Schindler faced many conflicts in his life. The main conflict he faced was overcoming the Nazis and saving over one thousand Jewish People. Schindler, with out a job at the time, joined the Nazi Party and followed on the heels of the SS when the Germans invaded Poland. This is when Schindler took over two previously Jewish owned companies that dealt with the manufacture and sales of enamel kitchenware products and opened up his own enamel shop right outside of Krakow near the Jewish ghetto. There, he employed mostly Jewish workers, which saved them from being deported to labor camps. Though twice the Gestapo arrested him, he got released because of his many connections and with many bribes. Most importantly, he helped save an entire race of human beings.
CHRONICLER AND MEDIA
We know of Oskar Schindler through many different types of the media. We know of him through the television, newspapers, books, and by word of mouth through the Jewish people he had saved. There was even a movie based on Oskar Schindler called Schindler’s List. There are several books about him, many were even written by some of the Jews he saved themselves.
EPIC HERO ELEMENTS IN THE LIFE OF OSCAR SCHINDLER
Oskar Schindler was born on April 28, 1908 in Zwitlau, which is now part of the present day Czech Republic, to his father and mother, Hans and Louisa Schindler. They were a deeply religious family, which resulted in a strong catholic household for Oskar and his younger sister Elfriede. The Schindler family was one of the richest and most prominent in Zwitlau and elsewhere. Mostly due to the success of their family owned machinery business. Oskar Schindler wasn’t necessarily born of noble birth. He was basically an ordinary guy, especially when his father lost his business, who did extraordinary deeds for people who he has never even met.
One can also see how Schindler was a hero in is character traits. Schindler was always thoughtful and humane in dealing with Jews. He saved the most Jewish people during World War II. The society at that point of time was going downhill and almost came to a big crash. Hitler could have destroyed a whole race of people if it wasn’t for the help of Oskar Schindler. Although he did join the Nazi’s, Schindler still had a heart and a mind to know what Adolf Hitler was...