On Monday Nov. 12, Honors English 2 students had the opportunity to stay after with Mrs. Beth Moritz and watch Schindler’s List. Schindler’s List is a rated R movie so the students had to have a signed permission slip in order to watch the movie.
As a unit in the reading semester all the students read the book NIght by Elie Wiesel. The book Night tells the story of Wisel’s time in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. Students end the unit with the opportunity to watch Schindler’s List.
When asked why she shows Schindler’s List, Moritz said, “It gives a really accurate visual of this horrible time period and it tells a story of somebody who can give us hope and its a good way to end the unit.” Along with Mrs. Moritz, one of the other Honors English 2 teacher, Mrs. Sara Hubbard said, “I think it’s a good representation of a different point of view. Night is so understated it is more powerful to be able to see what actually happened”
The movie follows Oskar Schindler’s rescue of of over 1,000 Jews from the Nazis. Schindler was not a perfect hero; he had flaws, such as cheating on his wife. Schindler was also a Nazi, it was ironic but he used that to his advantage to save some of the Jews.
The movie which was directed by Steven Spielberg was shot in black in white except for the beginning of the movie, and also a red jacket worn by a little girl. Schindler who owned a factory needed Jew to work for him. The Jews worked for free but gained some freedom which is more valuable than money.
At first it seems like Schindler opened the factory just for the profit, but in the end it seemed that his intentions changed. Toward the end he had to buy all the Jews he wanted and that ultimately left him bankrupt. In the end he ended up only having a car, pin and ring.
Out of all the Jews, Schindler’s most trusted Jew would have to be his accountant Itzhak Stern. Stern I think has the most impact on Schindler. Ultimately I feel that Stern is the reason that he saved that many Jews. At one point in the movie Stern forgot his work papers at his house and was about to be shipped off to a concentration camp but Schindler saved him by threatening the SS officer. Mostly is was Stern that scoped out the Jews and then reported to Schindler the ones that he would want to work for him.
In the end of the movie as Schindler was fleeing due to the end of the was he looked down at his pin and kept on saying that it could of saved a couple of more Jews.
“It was really moving. In the end, Schindler wanted to save more people, but couldn’t. However, it was nice to see the change of heart throughout the film,” Rebecca DeKoster said about Schindler in the end.
Schindler’s List was a very emotional movie.
“I usually don’t cry during movies but that movie was so awesome I had to,” Ambria Powell expressed about the movie.
Along with Powell, Emily Burgess said, “It was very touching and very educational.”
Mariah Lindsey also said she liked the movie. “It was really dramatic and very informative like a documentary even though it wasn’t. ”