Essay Sample on Oskar Schindler

Oskar Schindler is one of the  most talked about Germans in Israel and because about 1,100 Jews owe him their lives. In 1993 Steven Spielberg even created a movie about him named the “Schindler’s List.” Schindler was born in 1908 in a German Catholic Family. He worked for his father’s farm company before he worked for the Nazi party. When his father’s business collapsed he, started to drink. In the 1930’s, when Hitler came to power, he joined a local Pro-Nazi organization and began collecting intelligence for the German military. In 1938 he was arrested by the Czech authorities and charged with spying. He was given a death sentence but was released later when Germany annexed the Sudetenland.

When Germany invaded Poland, Schindler left with his wife to Krakow. But Schindler came back alone and used his charm and gifts of gratitude to bribe high-ranking officers. Schindler obtained a former Jewish enamelware factory to produce goods for the German military. He went back to Krakow because they were the cheapest labors he could find. 

He started with 45 Jews, and then expanded to the factory’s peak at 1,700 Jews. The Germans tried to send his workers to Auschwitz, but Schindler created a list of 1,100 Jews for his factory. The Germans agreed to allow Schindler’s workers to stay for months because he bribed them. After he got all the workers he just kept spending all his money on protecting the Jewish workers. He kept bringing in more Jews to make sure they didn't die. He was losing a lot of money because the equipment he was making was not working like it was supposed to. When the equipment didn’t work, the Nazis wouldn’t pay him. He kept losing money for saving the Jews and keeping them safe. After the war he was in danger of being hung at the Nuremberg Trials, but the Jews saved him from that happening. For the remainder of his life the Jews he saved sent him money to help support him, since he never really recovered financially.