The Real Oskar Schindler
A hamfisted but still interesting feature on the new biography of Oskar Schindler from the NYT News Service, where professor David Crowe discusses the complexities of Schindler’s life and the huge simplification that Spielberg’s film made of the truth. The awkwardly written piece makes Crowe sound niggardly, and I’m sure that wasn’t his intention. It appears that he’s written a biog of Schindler that manages to capture the huge ambuiguities of his life and his actions.
This isn’t to dis Schindler’s List, incidentally. It is an excellent movie. But it’s a dramatic metaphor for the Holocaust, not a depiction of fact. I remember hearing that the film was being used in history lessons at schools in the States. If it’s true, I’d be ambivalent about that. Holocaust education is crucially important, obviously, but if Schindler’s List is to be taken as the extent of that education, it might do more harm than good. Although, many people don’t even know what the Holocaust is, so perhaps anything that ensures it’s acknowledged and remembered is a good thing.
Amazon search for Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account Of His Life, Wartime Activities and the True Story Behind The List
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- Sites For Sore Eyes
- The Secret Life Of Primo Levi There was a mesme…
- Your Ghost Rachel Whiteread’s memorial to the H…
- The Holocaust Industry
- Pause and see
