Essay Sample on Impacts of Oskar Schindler

Born into a German Catholic home in 1908, Oskar Schindler was introduced to a life of great opportunity and happiness. His parents Hans and Louisa Schindler enrolled Oskar in school and gave him all the resources he needed to become successful. Later in life, Schindler used his basic level knowledge from trade school to work in the business industry. This pathway gave him a normal life with an average income for a man his age. At the beginning of the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, Schindler decided to take the opportunity of Jewish labor for his own financial beneficiary (“Schindler, Oskar”). After siding with the Nazi soldiers, Schindler took over a Jewish-owned factory and used the cheap workers to his advantage. Emalia, Schindler’s new factory, made him great profit and turned out exactly as he had envisioned.

It wasn’t until the liquidation of the Ghetto concentration camp that Schindler realized the issue arising. Schindler himself expressed, “...they started killing innocent people, it didn’t mean anything to me that they were Jewish, to me they were just human beings” (“Museum, US Holocaust”). Witnessing the brutal abuse towards Jews opened Schindler’s eyes to the evil he was working with. It was then that he noticed the wickedness he was supporting. Undoubtedly, his kind and selfless character is what finally pushed him to take action in what he believed was the right thing. By doing this, Oskar Schindler changed the religious equality in the world. 

To begin, Schindler took the action of establishing Emalia as a sub-camp of Plaszow. Plaszow was the relocated concentration camp for the ghetto and demanded harder, more dangerous labor on its inhabitants (“Oskar Schindler” Biography.com). Seeing the brutality at this new camp further pushed Schindler’s desire to act. He made it his priority to protect his workers and didn’t stop pushing until he was able to turn Emalia into a sub-camp. Complete with barracks, the new sub-camp was Schindler’s opportunity to save several Jews from death. With the success of the new camp, over 1,000 Jews inhabited Emalia by the summer of 1944 (“Schindler, Oskar”). Although it was hard to help the Jews under the watch of Nazis, Schindler risked his life and his money to supply resources for his workers. This time of difficulty showed Schindler’s true character as he put himself in a position of great danger in order to save the people everyone around him were against. 

To further show his character of bravery and dedication, Schindler was faced a new challenge. This new challenge came abruptly and caught Schindler by surprise: “As Soviet troops approached Krakow, Schindler was ordered to break up the Jewish sub-camp at Emalia” (“Schindler, Oskar”). Determined to not give up, Schindler had to think of a new plan to save his workers from being sent to die. Making even more risky arrangements, Schindler was able to persuade authorities to create a new labor camp named Brünnlitz. After opening Brünnlitz, Schindler made a list now known as “Schindler’s List” with the names of over a thousand Jews that he insisted worked at his new factory (“Oskar Schindler” Gale). He claimed these workers were essential to the factory knowing it was his only way to save them. Here, the workers were given very good treatment and were kept safe from the rest of the danger. To add to this, Schindler also took time to personally get to know his workers because he felt it was his job to make them feel loved. Knowing many lost their family’s and had no one, Schindler knew this was the least he could do for them. Ultimately, it was Schindler’s kindness and determination that saved the lives of over 1,000 Jews from death.

Furthermore, Schindler also took many actions of great bravery. In order to keep the Jews safe and open the camps that he did, Schindler had to do very risky things. When threatened with the death of his workers, “Schindler managed to provide a black-market gift or bribe to save their lives” (“Oskar Schindler” Biography.com). Providing these meant Schindler had to take the risk of bribing high position officials into helping him save the Jews. Although his reasoning may not have been direct, any official that he contacted could’ve rejected his bet and gotten him killed. Taking these actions also showed Schindler’s great bravery and dedication to doing what he believed was right. In order to take these actions of bravery, Schindler had to be very secretive. This secrecy led Schindler to be arrested three different times throughout the war, but was freed each time without charges (“United States Holocaust Memorial Museum”). Continuing to take these risks even after the threat of death further proved Schindler’s unmatchable bravery. These setbacks also showed Schindler’s passion and determination to protect his workers no matter what came before him. 

Overall, Schindler made a great change in society by religiously equalizing Jews during the Holocaust. He proved to everyone that kindness was a choice no matter who believed differently: “When everyone thought of Jews as dirty threats to Germany, Schindler saw them as normal human beings with a right to freedom and peace” (“Museum, US Holocaust”).  It was him that showed how one person could make a great change in our world. His actions spoke great volume for a problem in this world that not many are brave enough to speak on. People now strive to model the bravery and passion Schindler once had. With the impact Oskar Schindler left on today’s society, his legacy will never be forgotten. 

Works Cited 

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/oskar-schindler.

Museum, US Holocaust. “Oskar Schindler's Motivations, as Told by Holocaust Survivors.” Medium, Medium, 14 Dec. 2018, us-holocaust-museum.medium.com/oskar-schindlers-motivations-as-told-by-holocaust-survivors-601ea6630533.

“Oskar Schindler.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 9 July 2020, www.biography.com/activist/oskar-schindler.

"Oskar Schindler." Gale Middle School Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context: Middle School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/LVEPQH819243273/MSIC?u=francis_ms&sid=bookmark-MSIC&xid=608248fd. Accessed 11 Feb. 2022.

“Schindler, Oskar.” The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, 27 Feb. 2020, jfr.org/rescuer-stories/schindler-oskar/.