Flim Lesson: Schindler's List

Schindler's List is based on the true story of a Nazi soldier who saved more than a thousand Jews. During the film, Schindler witnesses the harsh treatments of the Jews and begins to hire them as factory workers. He does this so that would not have to face terrible death in the gas chambers. Schindler also allowed children to work in his factory which was unusual.

The movie illustrated the Holocaust very well because it showed two different points of views. It showed how the Nazis thought of Jews as savages that deserved to be killed, and the fear the Jews had while they were living in the concentration camps. In many parts of the films the Nazis kill countless of Jewish people for no reason at all. Schindler and his wife stood on top of a hill which overlooked the ghettos and watched as the brutal attacks below.

The scenes that were very powerful and violent to me were when the Nazis came back to the ghettos during the night to see who was hiding. They crept silently throughout the house and began to shoot everyone who was hiding. The worst part was when the shot the little boy various of times. When the woman's train were accidentally led to Auschwitz, the Nazis shaved their hair and began to separate the children from their mothers. Schindler who was present and was trying to lead all the women back on the train to his factory, he threatened the Nazi who was taking the children away. He informed the soldier that the children were essential workers.

Schindler protected his workers in every way possible. He saw the evil that were taking place in the concentration camps and the images of the dead bodies being burned to hide the evidence. Schindler informed his workers that Germany had lost the war and that they were all free to go. He admitted that he was a criminal as well and he left his factory. The end of the movie showed his grave where the Jewish people were showing him they're respect. He was a great man and a hero.

Flim Lesson: Night and Fog

Night and Fog is a black and white, 32 minute documentary film about the Nazi concentration camps made in 1955. The film concentrated on violent images of the concentration camps and the consequences of the Nazis hatred.

Some of the powerful scenes of the movie were the sick Jews, the hangings, and the real footage that the Nazis took themselves. The doctors would experiment on the sick Jews, causing more damage and leaving them for dead. They decapitated the heads of the bodies and did tests on them. Throughout the camps, there were piles of dead bodies. There were even some Jewish prisoners who tried to escape but their attempts failed. They were hung on the gates of Auschwitz and others tried to break their way out of the gas chambers.

The Nazis would use the hair of the Jewish people to make carpets and sell it for money. They made soap by using the dead bodies. They kept all of their belongings such as their passports, shoes and their jewelry. The Nazis kept a tally of how many people they had killed for each day. The remaining Jews were starved, and were forced to work day and night. The Nazis enjoyed to humiliate the Jews. They would do a selection in which they would kill off the weak ones by doing a series of tests.

Schindler's List does not compare with Night and Fog. The film has more graphic scenes which depict the cruel treatments the Jews had to endure. The documentary has more haunting images, and show the immoral beings that Nazis were. Night and fog captures every inhumane act of the Nazis more effectively than the Hollywood Version.