Let Us Never Forget

Oskar Schindler was a shrewd businessman. He was a womanizer and a Nazi. He was also a humanitarian. In Stephen Speilberg's amazing epic film, Schindler's List, the life of this unlikely hero is chronicled through a horrifying three-and-a-quarter-hour account of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews met their demise in the Nazi gas chambers.

The entire film is in black and white, except for a few key moments. This lends the movie a documentary feel and adds to the aura of desolation and horror that hangs over all of Europe. When color finally comes, it is first as a means of recognizing a child seen previously in the film during the storming of a ghetto. But moments before the conclusion of the film, it is a symbol of hope in the form of flames from the candles of the Sabbath ceremony performed by the rabbi in Schindler's factory.

Liam Neeson plays Oskar Schindler, a deeply conflicted man who must eventually decide whether to live as he has lived, seeking profit and going along with the cruelty of his political party, or risk everything to make a difference -- indeed, to save lives. His two best friends are the sadistic Ammon Goeth, a psychotic Nazi commandant played chillingly by Ralph Fiennes, and Itzhak Stern, his Jewish clerk, whose gentle wisdom and compassion shine brilliantly through Ben Kingsley's portrayal.

While the movie focuses on the ever-differing lives of Schindler and the commandant, it gives a horrifying account of what happened to the Jews after Hitler declared his plan for the purification of the Aryan race. The brutality and inhumanity which occurred during these years was such that a person watching this movie would be tempted to think that such a thing never could have happened, especially not in our civilized twentieth century. We must not succumb to that temptation. Six million Jews, not to mention several million other people who didn't fit the Nazi ideal, were systematically slaughtered in ghettos and death camps before the war ended in 1945.

Schindler's List depicts this mindless genocide in stark detail. This movie is not pleasant, and you should consider carefully whether your child can handle such graphic material; indeed, you may not be able to yourself. Prepare yourself, and prepare your child for the horror he or she is about to witness. I would not eagerly endorse this film for anyone under the age of thirteen, though I do think that younger children should be informed of what happened during the Holocaust. I just don't think they are ready to see it presented in such graphic detail.

Despite this film's bleak subject, it is not without hope. It provides a powerful testimony of the profound difference one person can make. Oskar Schindler bankrupted himself to save 1100 Jews. Over 6000 "Schindler Jews" are alive today. That is a powerful legacy. Let us never forget the horror of the Holocaust or the power of a person to bring a ray of hope into the darkest hours of human history. For "all that is necessary for evil to exist is that good men and women do nothing."