I actually put a rock on Schindler's grave 3.5 years ago when I was in Israel, and didn't know who he was. I just knew that he was a holocaust hero. I even went to Yad Vashem (Israel's Holocaust Museum), and didn't learn about him. The point of some of my goals is to eradicate my ignorance, and this was one of them!
Schindler, I learned, was a shrewd man. He was broke and came to a Jewish accountant to propose a business idea. He depended on Jewish investors to fund his business (paying them in wares, not paper money, since that was more useful in the ghetto) as well as Jewish labor. What did Schindler add to the mix? The fact that he wasn't Jewish, and he was the one in charge. It was a win-win situation. Schindler built a thriving enameled pots and pans factory. The Jews who worked under him were treated better than anywhere else.
When the ghettos were liquidated and they were sending all the Jews to concentration camps, Schindler fought to keep his laborers, saying that they were essential for his business, which supported the war effort. Miraculously (and through schmoosing the Nazi local leadership), Schindler was allowed to pay for as many workers as he could name. He and his accountant came up with over 11,000 names!
A turning point happened when a girl met with Schindler, asking him to buy her aging parents as workers. "They say," she said, "that this place is a haven." Apparently this was the first time Schindler found out how he was viewed. At first he was angry--this was business! This was about money! This wasn't about saving people. That was dangerous. ...but then he softened. He bought the girl's parents. At the end of the movie, when he was fleeing, he lamented that he could have saved more people. He should have sold his car--then he could have bought more people. He wept bitterly, while those he had saved showed him their gratitude.
I thought it was a very touching movie. I recommend it.
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