It used to be that during your elementary and high school - TopicsExpress

It used to be that during your elementary and high school education you were required to read certain books, like The Adventure of Tom Sawyer. If I was head of the Department of Education I would require students to continue reading certain works of literature and also to view certain films. One such film that would be required viewing, around 8th grade, would be Schindler’s List. Schindler’s List was on TV last night, unedited and commercial free, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This was the 4th time I seen this work of art and once again it left me sadly aware that humanity can turn against you without warning. These was several scene, among many, that impacted me. One was the where the young girl, about 3 years old, knew the horror of what was happening as she hid under her bed while the liquidation of Jewish ghetto in Krakow, Poland was taking place. No one told her to hide, she was by herself, separated from her parents, and she knew she had to try to escape what was taking place. The other was the scene when the woman were off loaded from the train at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The director Steven Spielberg made every effort to show the dreadfulness of what these people were enduring. No special affects with fake snow and cold as this scene was filmed in the cold as you saw the victims breath and you realized they were in reality shaking from the cold as they were awaiting their demise. The other underlying message was the creation of the Judischer Ordnungsdienst, the Jewish Police. They were Jewish inmates that assisted their captors in maintaining order among the victims, their own people, who were being sent off to concentration and death camps. It showed, at least to me, what not only your neighbor but also tragically what I might do in order to stay alive. The movie as horrific it was did show there was some decency in the form of Oskar Schindler. A man who had faults but was able to save over 1,000 humans from certain death. Everyone should see this film from beginning to end, no matter how difficult it may be for you.