Victor Frankl once said, “Any person, regardless of the circumstances, can decide what shall become of them – mentally and spiritually.” This is true for Oskar Schindler and Amon Goeth, who both had very different reactions to World War II. Human goodness is when one sees the truth, accepts it, and makes rational decisions based on the truth. Human evil is irrational decision-making, and when a person sees and understands the truth but choses to defy it. In Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, philosophers Kant and Rahner would agree that Schindler is a representation of human goodness, and Goeth represents human evil.
Oskar Schindler represents human goodness with his actions during the Holocaust. Oskar starts as a man who only acts for
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They gave him a ring with a Hebrew saying on it and a letter signed by all his workers that explains how good he was to the Jews in his camp. Oskar suddenly felt emotional over everything he had done, and he started to say, “I could have got more.” He realized that he was capable of saving people during the war and wished he had saved, “One more person.” Rahner believed that goodness was when one chooses to abide by the truth through virtuous acts, although he also believed good people were capable of evil acts (Lippert). Oskar began as a selfish, manipulative man who was using the war to benefit himself. Once he saw the truth, he acted through virtue. When the war came to an end he wished he had done more, seeing that he was capable of giving up so much more of his own life to save others. Unfortunately, goodness like that is rare, but so is evil.
Amon Goeth illustrates human evil with his actions during the Holocaust. Like Oskar, he used the war to his advantage by gaining power. Unlike Oskar, Amon found joy in killing. That alone is considered evil to most people and evil does not change. Oskar gets mad about the woman who said that his factory was a haven. When speaking to Itzhak about it, he says that war brings out the bad in people and that if there was no war, Amon would be good. This may be true for most people, but truly evil people do not change due to the situation. Looking at
The memoir,”Night”, shows the perspective of Elie Wiesel, a young boy that was sent to a concentration camp alongside hundreds of other Jews, that lost their valuables , faith and family.The terror within the concentration camp slowly deteriorate the Jews ,physically and mentally.The jews had a choice to be selfish or selfless,given the jews’ situation it is best to do what was in their best interest. Throughout Elie Wiesel’s memoir, “Night”; many individuals had a hard time navigating the brutality within the concentration camps.Through these times of brutality, many people in the camp had to choose to either be selfish or altruistic. Given the jew’s situation, it is better to act selfish than to be altruistic.
In December 1939, as the German-occupied Poland was being torn up by the events of the Holocaust, Schindler took his first steps in becoming a Holocaust hero. “If you saw a dog going to be crushed under a car,” he said later of his wartime actions, “wouldn't you help him?”(“Oskar Schindler,” Jewish Virtual Library).
To think that this self centred man would become known for a shining moment of salvation for so many is almost beyond belief. Oskar Schindler is not a humanitarian or a force for ?good? in the typical sense. He is depicted within the film as a man that simply found himself in a unique position and rose to the occasion. Evil on the other hand, is epitomised throughout the film by the actions of those involved in the Nazi regime, in particular Amon Goeth who was in charge of the forced labour camp at Plaszow.
A famous quote from Oskar Schindler states, “If you saw a dog getting crushed under a car, wouldn’t you help him”? Oskar Schindler was an industrialist who was a figure of hope and optimism for the Jewish people during the horrific and appalling acts of the Germans. Many people contemplate if he was a savior or a sinner because of his involvements in the Nazi party. His works manifested the world and we think he was a savior and not a sinner. His profound works exemplify what it means to help people even in a time of despair, and hatred that embodied the world. The enormity of his works shows how one man can make an everlasting difference in our society. His profound career has had many impediments and successes along the way and he is widely
To be reckoned with, it is practically from a person’s own act of pure kindness to put others first than themselves because it is the genuine meaning of humanity. Nevertheless, the ultimate truth is not everyone is willing to sacrifice, but not everyone sacrifices the right things. Some prefer to stay within the safe zone while others go beyond the boundaries. In the memoir, Night, written by Elie Wiesel, he depicted his past encounters of the Holocaust, known to be the most notorious and atrocious crime in human history. Freedom of innocent beings was taken away once they stepped into the concentration camps and were told that only work will set them free, but some never kept their word. The time Wiesel found out he had not been selected, “I began to laugh. I was happy. I felt like kissing him. At that
helped so many Jewish people. Schindler definitely was not a man of many morals, but his
The film, Radical Evil, by Stefan Ruzowitzky, argues that there is genocidal potential in each of us. Personal responsibility is not lost, but rather shown through the courage to step out or the willingness to conform. Radical Evil attempts to explain conformity through a series of psychological tests such as the Milgram Experiment and the Asch Conformity Test. Through psychologists, sociologists, historians, and primary sources, the film suggests that everyone is capable of murder or genocide given the right environment such as military orders or the atmosphere of war. Essentially, the perpetrator becomes the victim of their own psyche and circumstances. However, allowing the Einsatzgruppen, or any other Nazi affiliated group, to assume
Good people can cause severe harm if their motives are influenced by the values shared in a public corporation or are a result of manipulation controlled by the law. Bob Henderson’s ability to satisfy his interests to obtain success by dismissing social responsibility and contributing to the rise in obesity is wrong. Hannah Arendt founded the theory “The banality evil’ through analyzing Adolf Eichmann’s case during the time of the Holocaust. Eichmann and Henderson share similarities of both being ordinary men who influenced large scale harm. The intent of this essay will be to compare and contrast the perception of evil and discuss at which point radical evil may be mistaken for banal evil.
He befriended members of the SS, and German army, only to later benefit him. Schindler wanted to buy a factory, but needed investors. Oskar then met Itzhak Sterk a Jewish accountant who would help his business flourish. With the war factor he knew a large profit could be made. In 1940, his factory opened and many came to work for Schindler, making him millions of dollars, When the 1943 liquidation of the Krakow ghetto occurred, Schindler lost all of his workers. That is when he met Amon Goeth, the man in charge of the final liquidation and commander at Plaszow. He bribed Amon with goods from the black market to allow to him to have his own labor camp within his factory. Schindler then began to realize the ways of the Nazis were inhumane and unjust. Oskar knew he had to do something to help. Then, Schindler's List was created with over 1,2000 names. Schindler spent whatever he had buying back Jews and bribing German officials to keep them safe. He saved over 1200 lives by generating this list, many would have not survived the horrors of the Holocaust without this man. All it took was one man to make a difference in
Heroes are made not born. Just like it happened with Oskar Schindler in the Holocaust. In the film “Schindler’s List”, Steven Spielberg demonstrates how a person can change his personality and make a difference in the world. Spielberg supports his theme by describing Oskar Schindler, a businessman who saved thousands of people, specifically Jews, from being killed in the Holocaust by putting them to work in a factory. At the beginning of the movie Schindler was a selfish man but towards the end he becomes an altruistic person. Oskar Schindler becomes a hero over the course of his life because he realizes that innocent people were getting killed and harmed and ends up saving their lives.
To his own detriment, Oskar Schindler relentlessly protected Jews in spite of the world around him. Thus, the notion that determinism trumps agency is an insult towards those who actively opposed the crimes committed by the Nazi Party. To claim that the German people were helpless brainwashed bystanders and prisoners to their predetermined fate devalues the efforts of those like Schindler who resisted and rebelled against the Nazis. As Elie Wiesel suggests, innocent bystanders do not exist.
He saved over one thousand Jewish people from going to labor or death camps. He risked his life for people he has never even met. Schindler received word that a train of evacuated Jews from Golezow camp was stranded in the nearby city of Svitavy. As he has done twice before, Schindler pulled some strings at the top and got permission from German officials to take his workers to the nearby station to rescue the stranded. Once at the station, they forced the doors open to the rail car and saved about one hundred half frozen Jews and did their best to nurse the ill back to health, and those who did not survive received a proper Jewish burial.
Watching Schindler's list I decided to focus on Oskar Schindler. Throughout the movie Schindler personal emotions change on the war. In the beginning we see that it was a good thing for business that nothing else mattered as long as he made money. When Jews would come up he wouldn't care about them because he knew he could manipulate them and earn more money since they needed him. Schindler didn't really care for the Jews and what would happen to them. We see that Schindler only concern is that his business profits in the war. His concern for going to parties were to make connection that would better his money earning business. Money was his only concern which is why he went out seeking a jew. Since having a jew made it so they could be payed less than a normal person and they would be to scared to not do work. If he got a Jew it would earn him more money than hiring a German accountant. After getting an accountant he goes and seek workers for his factory. The workers are Jews since they don't need to be payed to be working. We later learn that his wife influences him with making business and wanting to succeed. He came from a place where he had nothing and is just beginning to make it. Hes making so much money he doesn't know what to do and he thanks the war for that. With his business doing so well he starts to care about his workers. He cares about them because he needs them to continue making the money.He starts really caring about his accountant Stern he makes sure he
The film ‘Schindler’s List’, directed by Steven Spielberg and based on the novel Schindler’s Ark, by Thomas Keneally, gives us an insight into the corruption and destructive capabilities of humans. This film portrays many themes, all of which are evoked due to the factual historical event of the Jewish Holocaust which occurred in Germany during WWII. The exploration of the themes of hope, use and misuse of power, the nature of evil and courage makes this film prominent over others. Spielberg’s purpose in making this film was to raise awareness of the
[War] brings out the worst in people. Never the good, always the bad. Even in the midst the devastation of a national genocide, where one race turned against another in hate, good people existed and worked to counteract the hate through love and compassion. Oskar Schindler was one of these people. World War II provided him the means to become a very wealthy and powerful man, yet he did not exploit the Jews like many other businessmen during his time. He used his money and power to save thousands. Much can be learned from what happened during the holocaust and what Schindler did to save thousands of Jews.