Survival As Shown During The Holocaust Period - 1199 Words

Survival as shown in the Holocaust Period The horrors of the Holocaust period have been portrayed in many movies, books, and other works throughout history. The period of the Holocaust presents readers and viewers with themes such as survival and hope in hardships faced by prisoners to reach life after the harsh conditions they lived through in concentration camps. In the face of overwhelming evil, the film Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, tells the story of the Nazi party and their power over the Jews. This film is based on the novel Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keneally, an Australian novelist, who exhibits the unbroken spirits and will of survival from the Jews and other minority groups that were imprisoned. In the film,†¦show more content†¦Survival is ultimately the main goal of these two men and the way the Holocaust period affected their lives. Vladek sums up the process succinctly while consoling his wife after the death of his first son, Richieu: he says to die, it s easy...but you have to struggle for life†. From the beginning of the novel, readers are exposed to how important the theme of survival is. In the initial stages of the German occupation of eastern Europe, things like buying food on the black market, were intensified by strong family bonds, a unified Jewish identity, and even self-sacrifice. When Vladek comes home from the prisoner of war camp, for example, an old business colleague, Mr.Ilzecki, helps him earn money and obtain the proper work papers that will allow him to walk the streets in safety. As the situation continues to worsen, however, Vladek, his family, and his friends are forced to resort to increasingly extreme measures in order to survive. Here, the ties of Jewish identity begin to break under the pressing nature to survive. The first sign of this comes in the form of Jews serving on a Je wish police force, comparable to the ones who came to Vladek s home to escort his wife s grandparents to the concentration camps. Rendering to Vladek, these Jews thought that by helping the Nazis in taking some of the Jews, perhaps they could help save others - and of course they could also save themselves. The relationship between Vladek and Anja remains solid