March 10th, 2008
Oskar Schindler, the man who saved 1200 Jews
I watched Schindler's List on Sunday and was so amazingly touched by this man's graciousness, love, kindness, compassion and passion.
For young people who are very ill-informed or know nuts about great people in history, Oskar Schindler (1908-1974), was a German industralist during World War 2, when Germany began invading Poland. In the course of the war, when the Nazi Party German soldiers were killing, murdering, and persecuting Jews in the millions, Oskar Schindler saved 1200 Jewish lives by selecting them to work in his factories.
Oskar Schindler was Catholic, but like Mother Teresa, his actions reflected the Great Love of God.
When everyone was rejecting Jews, arresting Jews, murdering Jews, Schindler provided for Jews a safe haven from death in his very own factories.
Jews, the subject of mass killings
Polish Jews executed on the streets
During the War, Jews were stripped of all business and trading rights. Schindler traded with Jews secretly, gave them food and money and was almost prosecuted twice by the German government.
There was once Schindler even greeted and kissed a little Jewish girl on her cheeks at a High ranking officers' dinnerm , much to the disgust of the many Germans who were there, as Jews were regarded as inferior and "losers" during the War.
Because of Schindler's status in the German government, the army protected him and his factories, thereby protecting the Jews who were working in the factories.
Schindler's heart began to break and decided to employ Jews to work in his factories when he witnessed himself how the German soldiers were killing innocent Jews rampantly on the streets. He also came to know about the mass killings of Jews in concentration camps.
Schindler had to risk his own life, by befriending a concentration camp Commandent named Amon Goth, in order to begin his "recruitment" of Jews. After befriending the Commandent, he began to come up with a list of Jewish names to employ. (with the help of his Jewish secretary). In the course of all these, he also began to smuggle Jewish children out of camps. Many times, when he had to recruit the Jews, he had to bribe the Camp Commandent and other German officers using his own money. There were even times that people said that Schindler used his intelligence and charm to "trick" German officers into releasing Jews from the camp to work in his factories.
At his factories, Schindler would warn the German soldiers stationed in his factories against killing his Jewish workers. He even allowed Jews to observe their Sabbath Day and to pray and worship God (which was highly prohibited by Hitler's government) in his factories' compound.
His last effort to help Jews was when Germany was beginning to lose the War, with the Russians advancing from the East. Orders were given by Hitler to destroy all concentration camps and to kill all remaining prisoners-of-war, mainly comprising of millions of Jews. Oskar Schindler immediately met up with Amon Goth, Camp Commandent of Krakow, and offered to trade a Jew's life with money.
In total, towards the end of the War, he came up with roughly 1100 names, (Schindler's List), which eventually cost him his whole fortune. Schindler personally went down to the camp to oversee and make sure that the Jews board the train towards his hometown to safety, and not to places for summary executions.
During the last few months of the War, the government commissioned Schindler's factories to produce war heads, bullets and other ammunition for Germany. However due to Schindler concentrating his efforts on rescuing Jews and spending his money and reserves on bribing German officers to secure the freedom of Jews, his factories produced ZERO usable ammunition for the German Army up to the War's end.
Oskar Schindler, a man who gave all he could to save the lives of Jews, fellow human beings. He spent his entire fortune to secure the freedom of more than 1200 Jews.
At a time when War made lives worthless and cheap, Oskar Schindler saw through God's eyes, and believed to the end that each life was precious. He was like Christ, compassionate, kind, loving and merciful.
Oskar Schindler is a someone whom I will always look up to, whom I will always admire.
He was later honoured at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to the Holocaust as "Righteous among the Nations", an award dedicated to non-Jews who helped Jews during the hardship in World War 2.
God today wants people like Oskar Schindler. Christian men and women who will see people as precious, and to love and help with the best that they can.