The Holocaust & Shindler's List

The Holocaust has been addressed in books, articles, films, novels, stories, and poems hundreds and thousands of times over the last half century, and now and again a particular work comes along that brings the entire issue into the open once more and introduces a new generation to the horrors of World War II and to the evil that human begins can do to one another. Such a work is Schindler's List, a film that has proven to be very popular and that has engendered controversy on a number of fronts. There are, of course, arguments over whether the film is accurate or whether it evokes the truth of the Holocaust to a sufficient degree. There has also been controversy brought about by the thoughtless actions of some young people who laughed when they saw the film, leading to a variety of dissections of the current generation and its ability to understand the suffering of others. The depiction of the Holocaust in the film Schindler's List can be compared to how the issue is handled in the book The Holocaust in History by Michael R. Marrus to see how they agree and where they might diverge.

The most apparent difference between the two is the nature of the medium used in each case. Each also has a different view of the period of time involved. The film addresses the Holocaust period itself, isolating it to a great degree until the end of the film when there is an explicit connection made between the people lost in the Holocaust and those who survived to the present day. Marr

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Category: Film - T