Whoever Saves One Life

In the face of systematic evil, individual acts of courage and compassion can make a difference.

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Transcript

Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party, arrived in occupied Kraków in 1939 seeking fortune amidst the chaos of war. He saw an opportunity for profit in the newly occupied territory. He took over a run-down enamelware factory that had previously belonged to a Jewish owner. His initial goal was profiting from cheap Jewish labor and his Nazi connections.

Using his charm and bribing high-ranking German officers with contraband goods, Schindler secured numerous army contracts and expanded his business rapidly. He cleverly maneuvered through the complex wartime economy, aided by the advice of a Polish-Jewish accountant named Isaak Stern. By the end of 1942, his business had grown into a massive enamel and ammunitions production plant, employing almost 800 people, of whom 370 were Jews from the Kraków ghetto.

As Schindler witnessed the escalating brutality of the Holocaust, his conscience awakened. He stopped using his wealth, charm, and connections to build his empire, and started using them to protect his Jewish workers from deportation to death camps.

Through elaborate bribes, dangerous negotiations, and carefully forged documents, Schindler created a haven within his factory. He labeled his Jewish workers as "essential" to the war effort, knowing that this designation meant the difference between life and death. When his workers were threatened with deportation to Auschwitz, he relocated his factory to Brünnlitz, Czechoslovakia, spending his entire fortune to protect them.

The transformation was profound. The man who once saw Jewish workers as mere instruments for profit now spent sleepless nights arranging their safety, risking his life repeatedly to shield them from the Nazi machinery of death. His famous list ultimately saved over 1,200 Jews from almost certain death in concentration camps.

Humans can change. This is true. There's always potential for change, deep in our bones. Schindler's journey from self-interest to selflessness demonstrates how consciousness can evolve even in the most challenging circumstances. The shift was real. It was palpable. He stood as a testament to moral courage.

By the war's end, Schindler was broke. He had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market supplies to keep his workers alive. He died in 1974, nearly penniless. But he was rich in something else. The gratitude of those he saved and their descendants, who today number over 7,000. The satisfaction of knowing he did the right thing. In the face of systematic evil, individual acts of courage and compassion can make a difference. His grave in Jerusalem bears a simple inscription from the Talmud: 'Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.'