Schindler's List

Schindler's List is Steven Spielberg's 1993 Academy Award winning Holocaust movie based on the true story of Oskar Schindler who saved 1100 Jews from the ultimate fate of the concentration camps. Oskar Schindler, a German businessman working within the Nazi Party, told others within the Nazi Party that the people on his list were skilled craftspeople who he needed in his quest to aid Germany in its path to victory (not the words he used and fotunately that scenario didn't play out the way the Nazis hoped, but they bought Schindler's story). The movie doesn't portray Schindler as a saint, because he wasn't, but he did what he did knowing the risks involved if his real ulterior motive for employing his Jews (as they were called) was discovered.

I hadn't watched Schindler's List since first seeing it in 1993, as this isn't an easy movie to watch with its stark power and a subject matter that is almost unbelievable (The Holocaust) in its horror. Schindler's List was still every bit as powerful as the first time I'd seen it (and maybe more so as I've learned a lot more about The Holocaust since 1993) and watching it one can appreciate why Schindler's List is one of the definitive records of The Holocaust. I'd forgotten how especially intensive the last half hour of the movie is.

One of the bonus features on the dvd of Schindler's List is about the Shoah Foundation, which was created by Spielberg to be a massive video testimonial record for the surviving members of The Holocaust (http://college.usc.edu/vhi/) and is an invaluable resource for learning about this horrible period in history.