Schindler’s List Essay

Hailey Oyer
November 9th, 2017
Mrs. Dewald

The movie Schindler’s List contradicts the statement, “Jews went like sheep to the slaughter.” In the movie, there were many acts of resistance toward the Nazis by the Jews. In the movie, most slaughter houses contained Jews that tried but couldn’t escape as they were either unable to or were quickly disposed of by the Nazis. In the movie, there were religious, spiritual, and physical forms of resistance. Through these many forms of differences, the movie completely contradicts the statement.
Minor attempts of resistance affected the outcome of the Holocaust very little but did somewhat gave the Jews some minor hope in the worst of times. Jews helped each other to survive secretly, helping each other with work, exchanging food, teaching each other and even passing secrets to each other. In the movie when the Nazis were clearing out some of the ghettos, Jews hid with no avail but created a small act of resistance. Most families would stuff their valuables into things like bread and swallow it. While at the concentration camps, the young kids would try and run away to a safe place while being checked on my the doctors. Very few were able to hide. On the other hand, women would pricked their fingers and rub the blood on their cheeks to look “healthy”. This small act of resistance among others contradicted the statement because the Jews are resisting instead of dying willingly.
Major attempts of resistance affected the outcome of the Holocaust a great deal and possibly even saved the lives of countless Jews while also turning tides of the Nazi wars for power over other regions. There was a little Jewish man named Itzhak Stern. Stern would create fake job cards to save Jews from going to concentration camps for the Nazis. If they were approved, they would be sent to Schindler and begin working for him. 1,750 workers were sent to work for Oskar Schindler in 1944. Throughout the whole process, Schindler would miscalibrated the machines so the Nazi army would send their products back so the Jews would have more work and won’t be taken to Auschwitz. This major act of resistance among others contradicted the statement because the Jews are resisting instead of dying willingly.
In the movie, a Nazi camp is shown, Auschwitz, where many Jews and other non-Nazis went to either die, or in the case of the movie Schindler’s List, to be sold off. In Auschwitz Jewish workers were forced to dispose of the bodies of gas chamber victims in most cases by cremating the bodies, but could do nothing to stop these killings. Jews were always treated like they were not humans. They felt lost, confused, and had self hatred for themselves. Schindler was a lifesaver to this people. If it wasn’t for Schindler, these people wouldn’t have hope. Schindler saved a train load of women and young girls from Auschwitz. Oskar Schindler saved over 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust.
In the movie there is few uprising physically by the Jews, but those resistances that did occur completely contradicted the statement. The question asked was if the movie, Schindler’s List confirmed or contradicted this statement “Jews went like sheep to the slaughter.” Overall, the movie Schindler’s List contradicts this due to the fact of their minor and major resistances of what the Nazis were doing to their race. This is so because many Jews were desperate to stay alive till the end of the Holocaust to live the rest of their lives peacefully and happily.