Oskar Schindler
(1908 - 1974)

On April 28th 1908 a German hero was born. Oskar was a brave Catholic German spy, a part of the Nazi Party, and a man who risked his life to save 1200 Jews during the holocaust. Born in Zwittau, Austria-Hungary, (now commonly known as Moravia, Czech Republic) he lived a wealthy lifestyle. Growing up he was a full Catholic but he inhabited a world of sin. He was a heavy drinker, as well as marrying many girls, starting when he was 19 years old.
He ended up buying a factory in 1939, in Poland and employed over 1000 Jewish workers. At this time Poland had been torn apart by the effects of the Holocaust. Everybody saw him as a typical Nazi who was driven by wealth and greed, and who didn’t care about anybody but himself. Suddenly in the December of 1939 he took a turn for the better. Everyone saw him as a different person. “If you saw a dog going to be crushed under a car,” wouldn't you help him?” He quoted. He became a hero for many. He risked his life and ended up saving 1200 people from the Soah. He did that by employing many more people than he needed in his factory. He classified them as important technicians even if they were not. Schindler’s accountant, who was Jewish got him connections with many Jews, who then invested in his factory. These lucky people got to work there and not get killed, beaten and starved. As Schindler was making money, he was persuaded to hire more and more Jewish workers, telling the Nazi’s that there skills were essential. He would pay off the Nazi’s so that the Jews would be able to stay there.
He was able to overcome many challenges and circumstances with in his lifetime. He went from being an evil and selfish man to stepping up against his own and risking his life to save a massive amount of Jewish people from getting brutally hurt, starved and killed at the height of World War II. His mind set changed when he saw that innocent people were getting killed. He felt guilty and decided that he needed to help more and more after an old man with one arm came to his office to thank him for saving his life, then suddenly got shot by a German solider. He started to realise what was happening and he changed from the person he once was. He once said that he couldn’t care less if they were Jewish, he just cared that people were being brutally killed.
He exhibited the qualities of love, faith, hope and courage to make a stand, by risking his life and saving many Jews. Schindler portrayed the love of people. This is demonstrated when he said he didn’t care whether the people who were getting killed were Jews or not, and then went on against his own to protect the people in need portraying courage. Schindler’s actions gave faith to the Jewish people by making them aware that not all Nazis are evil and want to eradicate their kind of people. He challenged the society to join him and the Jews he saved to go on a quest for justice and a better society.
Schindler demonstrated many of the Catholic Social Teachings such as Human Dignity and Solidarity. The Catholic Social Teaching of Solidarity is “Unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest mutual support within a group” He exemplifies this by taking action and standing up against his own to save the lives of others. He put others that were in need before himself. He looked after many people during the holocaust and is a hero to many. He also demonstrates Human Dignity. “Catholic social teaching believes that human beings, created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), have by their very existence an inherent value, worth, and distinction”, meaning every human being should be treated equally in the likeness of God. Schindler portrays Human Dignity with how he acted by having a mindset which says no matter whether you are a Nazi or a Jew, everyone has a right to life and he refused to see Jews being traumatized just because they were supposably “different”.
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