Memorializing the Holocaust
.
.
V
. by I
.
a
of
B
the de
de
the not
and
sys
by
our
reso
mak
MalaYSia is
many
is
license
Publishers
Publishers refuge.
always
(1995;
tn
Lipsadt concep
this
of
memory memory memory suggests
instance,
so.
borders basiC
disturbing
resolution
As
Amsterdam under
of
not
find
serve
be
understand
disallow
Science conscience.
for
Printed threatens
seeking Impulses
the is fulfill to form, for
(Overseas Memory
our questions
consequences
or modern
it
Langer
at
disruptive sites our to
and
in
itself.
memory-burden undergirded
OPA
on
Breach
should
traditional
Holocaust: such social
so
is
Association)
Netherlands
connecting
lies the
Memory-work desire
and
to 1996
our
this
disturbing. seek
giving
impulse difficult It
is.
@ The
political
activate
Impact
monuments
of
of the Holocaust
In
why
community.
the civilization
question
the
Lawrence ruptures
Public about communities
Gordon
of
A us
Holocaust
of and
explodes
That
they
the
is
way society,
strong
examine approach
It
While
into
some
a
. and it
a
the Idea
Published
Nevertheless,
acts.
These
profoundly
diffuse
as
.
social from
and conscience. question
the
For relieve
which
undiminished
calls communities
memory-work.
be
world
Holocaust. exists
It
in
Its
salvation.
workers
to
in
443
erasing
and
mocks simply catharsis.
revisionist often
social
the
that
refuge
forgetting,
List
StudIes individuals Without by
to
memorial
unsettling there
ways even contemporary
in
stili conscious
Holocaust
today
and
in
senses. they
in
engage and
and creatures.
.
cultural
the
that
unimaginable.
publisher the and
of
Cultural
many
only never
creating to
interrogation.
I even
self
denial,
to
the
itself
particular
Admitting of
the that
individuals
Memorializing
left
Holocaust are ideological
holocaust
the
ourselves
and to
spiritual license
from
unsettled
morality. continues
been
the this and
to
Pedagogy by
as for
and
consider
matter
functions.
the
the security.
have
and
which
Holocaust,
old.
lines
has
directly by
remembering 443-457
and
diverse. anti-Semitism .
manifests
that
Langer fundamental
open
by monument
Schindler's the
pp
desire imperative
permitted SOCial responsibility events,
. a reflection EducatfDnl
world
ourselves
Ott
4
for
of
Holocaust
. qf is
humanity.
century
wide thought
of
comfort.
avallabte
about
raised closing illustrates,
the most
a
No
the it or
our of
of
manageable,
though
the
erect means approach
comfort
unspeakable
social
18. of
reuleW it
the
the
Half -Lawrence leaves sense
p.184)
But
ongOing
the
Photocopying Reprints Vol. Brian
that In ing in tions the tems memory lution. One sire. issues The (1993) deep-seeded racist and serve may to ing important merely our construction
Thus,
,
:J a a is
in
the
be
445 old
the feel on
the lose
film
how
turn
and
with
film. level. ope
nar of
forget shoot such seem docu
other using dolly
audi
result
black
as hand"
Holly
lesser itself possi
colored the
usually
to sites
to sustain may
Is
In credence
on
explains,
had making would
and the
the
my
objectivity
every
during
Sight shot
and it
documents
film are
us filmed
involves
such in of
explore action shooting
worlds
distinction at
several
used another
rely
film
is
I casting
dramatic gives film,
his
that Schindler
we're
that
historical
further
By were
whom
reality the Holocaust
black-and-white. on in whenever
losing
selectively 3 hold
the
This
List
took wants
film To
present in spectators Spielberg
films .
give
this than Schindler
List
and
recognized
monochromatic film,
employs
historical the But
goal
ever because Auschwitz-Birkenau. materials
List, fantastic to
of
Oskar
a
As medium
a itself.
archaeological actors the could
section,
perception
spatial
I documents several
film At
making
Is as
viewing
reality that of
and
List
fell.
the factory Impression entirely widely the
footage
and of
of
this
Spielberg
aware
Spielberg and
contrary, camp
List Schindler's without printed
Spielberg's
monochromatic
making
the Spielberg
spectator.
Schindler's director's
In
experienced.
and
principle
camera
of
the all, extent
between
techniques Schindler's
In
the
filmmaking. effect a contemporary actual
Fiennes real
dramatic almost not
fictional
creates occupied. the
Historical death
Though keenly language
The
the
elaborate On other
the
ending,
Memorlaltzlng a
unedited
film.
Park actresses
the
Schindler'S
is so with
with
experience the
duel history
shot
To Above
most the
once filmed of
documentary percent
scenes
and
Ralph
"we're document,
past. technique
live, of is
of Schindler's
conventions,
primary
Is
it.
appears
encourages
was film
the
used between
he
75).
30 instance
reality, the the
it
positions . creating
intersection
the
like
and
film they
p selected two While recognize.
he
cast, gate
Jurassic that
document. of
beginning,
happened. and in
dramatic
sense
line documentary has
this
of
combined Color an reporting
second
a
in
that the
a
audience's
the Spielberg
the in
subvert
Nearly
more uses fact
technical to the
contracts,
skiJI
1993; .
evoking Spielberg events many
with to
This
because
The
CNN to
Neeson the
how are
When
apartment use quality
more. "really"
Are,
Krak6w,
First. carefully forged
towering
understanding
cameras. The
Island
the
historical
looks constructed
and
p.75)
film these
blurs its
In
he
language
that a the
to
immediately
more
a
a monochromatic
ever the letters,
Lost Liam
our
watching to
Spielberg
technical is
in that
do
List
or
the (Schickel, to not
cameras.
remarked attempts consider
the
narrative. 1993;
cameras. contributed
document. it even
associated
to
are
equipment, historical
exceptions
his Spielberg
Since
ensure
of
something under
he a
reading
actors
location. hand-held imaginary
and
we that own it immediate to
and for
that
addition to credibility
would
only
documentary.
of
perception,
product on
the Formally, a shot
, its
does
In a
wanted
happening themselves important fact that Spielberg ment Schindler's of frames. documentaries, it The generally and-white photographs, black-and-white. gives historical filming lend document" to use mounted hand-held more
"I hand-held (Schickel, is akin steps :o.s wood rated he location, this Raiders ble rative known ence
is is
to to
an
in
the the are not
and it film this and and
diffi
com
them as
many offers sanc
It
much
not
power cultu
List nearly for of expec
critic's monu
Ameri
action"
"really"
Oscars, witness
the
is
is
explains industry
the
films
its in
the its and
elements,
way
social
watershed self-reflec
that
the us
believe
are
of
agency
of
By a to a
I
setting
generate
these
that
. .
with spaces social seven
the
witnessing entertainment Commercially, There
suggesting
as
forms,
by memorial
movements
seductive
light formal
argument
between
turn
everyone's
Schindler'S such
are conservative reaching films result
art making
and life
how
List. In
contend its
the the
human
struggle,
time resolution
a
the reality,
in we
sense.
describes I
of far by
whether
observing we
of
struggle
company
photographs,
of
As for
as capturing productive nearly heralded other While
to
which
have
are
Holocaust
considering same
part that
a
self-reflective political concrete In
model to us
(1993)
internal and
is asking
by from analyzing we been
message?
relationship
a deSire
Unlike
the being
Schindler's
Ideologically identifying
simplistic narrative
for advancing
or
structured director.
By
way
as
have
at
success,
fashionably, has
This the an
exceeded our
feeling
In
production
masterpiece,
impression
is the
now
any film,
Young essay
Holocaust.
appear
up
whether or
events
cinema
best
is
inspires
disallows
in
basis
it merely the
film is
the
borne, and eyes.
the prompting into
fuels while
film
the
a
or
central
DOCUMENT objects
1994
greater
provocative, and
is
List
and us
movement.
educational
film
us
artistic project.
describe our
hold
as agents
than List
the
Holocaust
issue
a
than
The
that
create
to the
million
even
give or
constructing
and
accurately
the director draw
conscience.
4).
The
conclude
elements itself
actions picture
an
by memory-burden. before serious
such
memory structurally I
$22
through
distinguishes films
its
(p.
a
judge
Rather
seeks Spielberg's
of
"(rlather important,
and
Schindler's "films
is
They
surrounding actors
the
HISTORICAL our Reviewers of
was to
but
is
Schindler's history
Holocaust,
that these
fulfiJIs
impression unfold
aesthetic AS
memory-burden While
public
that
that
film shortcomings. essay
film,
convey dramatic suggests
the that Steven wish
Ott
how
writes,
those
past
reality memorialize the
budgeted an
is
spectator.
then create to our
acclaim,
spectacle"
of as
retain memory
the
pictures. FILM to On
of
he shoulder art
not this
memory-work.
it
film
best
to
which
the
to
Hollywood. implications even
community,
of
do
believe
real
Brian
used
from create reflect
seemingly
I memory-work. on
narrative. the
this for in principal
effort (1974),
when
fails on
issues
public to 12-13).
characteristic
be we culture
modestly which
scope,
motion.
the
No
"motion"
demonstrate
refuge tion ments the tations, ternal political about task forms including fort essay, to 444 process can unanimous tuary ways standards, ral I possible events (pp. can undoubtedly only film's almost in say event cult completely One perception able of and Metz
DRAMATIC 446 Brtan Ott Memortaltztng the Holocaust 447
Amon Goeth was to make the audience forget that they were actors at all. This characteristic does not necessarily predispose spectators to think of With regard to Oskar Schindler, Spielberg explained, "I was looking for the the film as a document, but It does subvert the film's fictional nature. A second actual guy, as close to the actual man as I could find. Liam did a spectacu and even more pervasive feature In press reviews of the film Is Its Identifi lar test for me, and I like the fact that although he's not an unknown actor, cation with Thomas Keneally's 1982 nonfiction account of Oskar Schindler's he's not a star either" (Richardson, 1994; 70). In the conclusion of the film, life. In reporting that the film was "based upon" the "nonfiction" work by Spielberg momentarily drops the illusion he has created by having the sur Keneally, reviews reinforced the Idea that the film testifies to the past, that viving &hindlerjud.en (Schindler Jews) appear on screen with the actresses It documents historical events. The film's frequent association with the award and actors who portrayed them. But the appearance of the Schindlerjuden winning book further legitimates the (h1)story presented by the film. In the film functions to legitimate its historical authenticity . Even as It Thus far, I have argued that both the press reviews of &htndler's List reveals the illusion, it lends credence and authority to the narrative. As the and the director's formal and stylistic choices function to Implode the tra Schindlerjuden and their descendants pass by Schindler's tomb, they place ditional borders between dramatic film and historical document. I turn stones on his grave site. In this powerful tribute to Schindler, past and now to how this break down pOSitions the spectator In relation to the present are joined and a sense of historical unity emerges. Thus , the mo narrative. In most films, the viewer's recognition that she Is observing a ment Is not nearly as disruptive to the film's illusion as It may first appear. constructed reality creates a psychic space where she can comfortably There is one final stylistic matter that Significantly reaffirms the specta retreat In response to feelings evoked by the film. Anyone who has ever tor's feeling that she is experiencing history. Spielberg (re)creates a number watched a horror film and attempted to calm himself by thinking "this Isn't of dehumanizing experiences on film. In one scene, prisoners at Plasz6w real" has relied on the space I am describing. But &hindler's LIst elimi run naked in circles before camp doctors who are looking to separate the nates this space. In creating the perception that It is a historical document, healthy from the sick. The audience's privileged knowledge that the healthy the film does not allow one to think "this Isn't real." The effect Is actually will remain at the camp as forced laborers while the sick are sent to their the opposite. The stronger the emotion evoked, the more "real" the narra deaths makes the scene all the more chilling. In another, equally disturb ·· tive seems. As a result, the viewer must resolve emotion within the Ing sequence near the film's end, the women who were mistakenly sent 11) narrative of the film Itself. In other words, to the extent that &hindler's LIst Auschwitz-Blrkenau are herded shivering, naked, their heads shaved into creates feelings of anomie, fear, or discomfort, spectators can only find showers. Suddenly, the showers turn dark and the women cryout. In this resolution and comfort within the narrative. The remainder of this essay Instance, the audience's lack of privileged knowledge-not knowing whether describes how the film evokes particular emotions and then resolves them. the showers will release water or lethal gas-Invites viewers to Identify with the women's horror. Like the women, viewers, are momentarily suspended GOETH AND SCHINDLER: FROM ANOMIE TO ORDER In fear. As Spielberg recognizes, these scenes do not merely represen'. de humanizing experiences, they (re)create them. Reflecting on his direction, The Holocaust story told in Schindler's List is crafted around the lives of tts Spielberg states, "the worst days came any time I had to have people take protagonist, Oskar Schindler, and antagonist, Amon Goeth. This fact is ',lot their clothes off and be humiliated and reduce themselves down to live without its own political Implications. Of all the possible perspectives f;om stock" (Schlckel, 1993; p. 76). In capturing dehumanizing experiences on which a narrative could be constructed around the Holocaust, the first film, Spielberg collapses the psychic space between drama and historical major Hollywood effort focused not on the lives of Holocaust victims, but reality making It nearly Impossible for the viewer to conceive of the Images on a reluctant hero who overcomes overwhelming odds by outsmarting a as somehow less than real. ruthless, Inhumane enemy. This formula Is familiar not only to most The transformation from dramatic film to historical document that I have Americans, but in light of Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Arc, and Jurassic Park been describing Is not limited to the viewing experience of Schindler's List, apparently to Spielberg as well. In Schindler's List, Spielberg uses this however. Individuals also experience films outside of theaters. Two formula to generate Intense feelings of anomie which he later alleviates examples are conversations with friends and press reviews. I would like to by re-establishing order. At first. the Nazis and more specifically Amon Goeth focus briefly on the latter Since It often Influences the former. Due, at least disrupt our faith In the human spirit, but shortly a morally driven Oskar In part, to the film's subject matter, it received substantial press coverage Schindler emerges to reaffirm our belief in humanity. In short, what the prior to its screen debut. Though numerous and varied, reviews of the film film does Is create moral chaos which It· then resolves. It Is a process which are characterized by two features. The first feature Is the repeated use of evokes strong emotions from beginning to end. But what the film falls to do the word "historical" as a deSCriptor of the film.' To describe a narrative as Is prompt us to reflect on the causes and effects of the moral chaos, to "historical" Is to give It temporal authenticity. Its consistent use In the internalize the memory, to connect It to social conscience, or to judge the press to describe &hindler's LIst, authOrizes the film's account of past events. usefulness or value of the previous order. 448 Brian Ott Memorializing the Holocaust 449 From the moment we are introduced to Oskar Schindler, we are irresis Schindler's charm, Stern provides the strong moral force at this point in tibly drawn toward him. Though we do not know him, we are captivated by the film. As likable and charismatic as Schindler is, the audience knows he his charm, his presence. Spielberg's editing of the scene in which we meet is a hedonist and womanizer, a Nazi sympathizer and war profiteer. Yet, the Schindler ensures that this is the case. As Schindler is escorted and seated viewer is assured in subtle ways that this will all change and his true at a table in a fine Krak6w restaurant, the camera surveys the room from character will emerge. his point of view. The joining of our (the camera's) gaze with Schindler's In one scene, Oskar, while dining with his wife, tells her that, "They begins a process of identification that will continue throughout the film. won't soon forget the name Schindler here. I can tell you that. 'Oskar Maintaining Schindler's point of view, the camera flirts briefly with a woman Schindler,' they'll say. Everybody remembers him. He did something ex seated across the room before it comes to rest on the "reserved" sign traordinary. He did something no one else did." Though Schindler is refer at an empty table. The camera's lingering gaze on the sign signals ring to the money he will make off of his enamelware factory, the words Schindler's interest in it, while at the same time creating our interest by foreshadow the extraordinary thing that he really will do and be remem prompting us to wonder about its significance. A woman in an elegant bered for in the future. A short time later, Schindler expresses disgust to evening gown enters with two Nazi officers and they are seated at another an SS official over the summary execution of one of his workers by Nazi table. Schindler sends the trio a bottle of wine and we sense that the game brutes. Regardless of Schindler's claim that he is angry because lOSing an is afoot. At first. one Nazi joins Schindler at his table, then another, then essential worker costs him money, the audience knows that the real rea the woman, and soon everyone in the restaurant is gathered around him, son goes deeper. Previously in the narrative, this worker had come to laughing, singing, and drinking. By the time the Nazi commander arrives Schindler and thanked him profusely for his graciousness. Schindler's dis and is seated at his "reserved" table, Oskar Schindler has been transformed comfort as the man praised his goodness signaled to the audience Schindler's from an unknown small-time businessman Into the most prominent figure coming moral awakening. Another signal to the audience was the way in the room. When the commander asks the maitre d' who that man is, he Schindler justified his anger. Since the man was old and disabled, Schindler's replies, "why that's Oskar Schindler," in a tone of voice that suggests argument that he was "highly skilled" was Insufficient to account for his Schindler is the most important figure in all of Poland. Never mind that the emotion. Hence, as the narrative continues to develop, Schindler's indiffer name Oskar Schindler meant nothing to the maitre d' an hour earlier. ence toward the treatment of the Jews and his outward projection of ambi Spielberg's synoptic editing of Schindler's swash-buckling machinations tion and greed appear to be nothing more than a cover for his compassion makes him all the more dynamic and alluring. In a series of quick shots, ate efforts to help as many Jews as he can. It is at this point that the we observe Schindler being photographed with Nazi officers, night club audience is introduced to Untersturmfiihrer Amon Goeth and faith in the dancers, and finally the Nazi commander. As the frames whisk by on the moral order is seriously disrupted. screen, the audience is whisked with them. Positio.ned in the center of Throughout the film, the Nazi commandant, Amon Goeth, Is portrayed every frame and shot from low-angles, Schindler commands our attention as the epitome of evil. In the viewer's first experience with the comman and our reverence. The people in the restaurant cannot get enough of Oskar dant, he is surveying the Jewish ghetto from the back seat of a Mercedes Schindler and neither can those in the theater. Both audiences delight in convertible. Goeth is touring the ghetto because he has been ordered to his presence. liqUidate it and relocate the Jews to the Plasz6w forced labor camp now The year is 1941 and the Jews in Nazi-controlled Krak6w are forced, under construction. His cold nature is established Immediately when the after being dispossessed of their businesses, to relocate to a small, run Nazi officer In the front seat asks Goeth, "Do you have any questions, Sir?" down part of the city known as the ghetto. It is in this context, the audience and he replies annoyed, "Ya, why Is top down? I'm fucking freezing." His learns, that Oskar Schindler conceives of and begins to execute his plan to statement is disturbingly ironic given that the ghetto streets are filled with get rich quick. After obtaining money from two Jewish elders, Schindler hundreds of Jews huddled around fires in a lOSing attempt to stay warm. purchases a deserted enamelware factory with plans to manufacture pots The viewer's initial revulSion to Goeth is further inscribed in the next scene. and pans for the Nazi war machine. He then hires Itzhak Stern (Ben Goeth has returned to Plasz6w and he is In the process of selecting a Je Kingsley), a member of the localjudenrat (Jewish council), to serve as his wish woman to be his housekeeper. As near as the viewer can tell, he se accountant and plant manager. Since Jewish labor is cheap-what little lects Helen Hirsh (Embeth Davidtz) because she is the most frightened of they earn is paid directly to the SS-Schindler decides to build his labor him. It Is becoming apparent to the viewer that Goeth revels in creating force from ghetto Jews. Recognizing that employees who are classified as fear. In fact, his very next action Is to order the death of the camp's foreman "essential workers" are protected from "resettlement" to concentration of construction, a JeWish woman with an engineering degree. After the camps, Stern seizes the opportunity to save Jewish lives by adding chil woman advises Goeth that one ofthe building's foundations should be torn dren and other unskilled individuals to the factory rolls. Thus, despite down and rebuilt, he has her shot in the head in front of the other workers. 450 Brtan Ott Memortaltztng the Holocaust 451 That he then takes the woman's adVice attests to his psychotic nature. In the long scene (night) finally ends, the moral chaos remains. In the next both of these events, Goeth's action Is utterly unpredictable. It Is through scene, Goeth, lounging shirtless on the balcony of his villa at Plaszow, this unpredictable brutality that Spielberg Is so easily able to evoke feel entertains himself by randomly shooting prisoners. Again, Spielberg has Ings of anomie In the audience. The whimsical and random brutality of created the expectation of order and withheld It. By now, the viewer Is Goeth defies any attempt by the spectator to make rational sense of his completely disoriented and distraught. actions. The moral order Is exploded. Never knowing how Goeth will act, But Spielberg's world cannot tolerate such moral chaos forever. Eventu viewers are completely at his mercy. Goeth's actions become a trope for the ally, the moral order must be restored. As we have seen, Spielberg builds Holocaust; unexplainable and unthinkable, they are profoundly disorient the Intense desire for the re-establishment of the moral order and the Ing. This Is why the experience of watching Schindler's List, at times, leaves comfort It provides Into the narrative of the film. Thus, the viewer wildly the viewer feeling numb. desires resolution. It Is precisely at this moment of utter chaos-when the At this point In the narrative, Viewers witness the turbulent, almost un audience most needs Its moral hero to emerge, to come riding in on his bearably vivid liquidation of the ghetto. At fifteen minutes, It Is an extraor horse and save the day-that Schindler, riding a horse no less, has his dinarily long scene, one which both Intensifies our feelings of anomie and moral awakening. The liquidation scene Is Intercut with shots of Schindler fuels our desire for order. The scene begins with Goeth's speech to the SS riding to a hilltop that overlooks the city and watching the mass human troops. In preparation for the liquidation, he tells them, destruction . Schindler's gaze ultimately falls upon a small girl In a red Today Is history. Today will be remembered. Years from now, the young will ask with coat. Against the monochromatic film, the coat Is eerily vivid. Schindler wonder about this day. Today Is history and you are part of It. Six hundred years ago . ... follows the child through the chaos of Krak6w, action erupting all around the Jews (were told) they could come to Krak6w. They came. They carried their belong her. From the look on his face the audience knows that he Is deeply moved. Ings Into the city, they settled, they took hold. they prospered In business , science, The little glr-lln the red coat has personalized the war for Schindler In a way education. the arts. They came here with nothing. nothing, and they flourished. For six that will no longer allow him to Ignore the Nazi atrocities. The remainder centuries there has been a Jewish Krak6w. Think about that. By this evening those six of fUm to moral order, centuries are a rumor. They never happened. Today Is history. the tracks Schindler's struggle restore the to undermine NaZI efforts, to create a safe haven for Jews and In the pro Goeth's speech Is, for the viewer, one of the most disturbing moments In cess for the audience. The stage has been set for a showdown between good Schindler's LIst. It Is disturbing not because the moment Is reflective, how and evil. ever. The audience Is not prompted to think about the Implications of the Mter the liquidation of the ghetto on March 13, 1943, Schindler Immedi holocaust or to connect It to social conscience. Rather, the viewer Is drawn ately begins to engage In acts of reSistance. His first move Is to forge a Into the (hl)story. The hideousness of the Nazi acts become overwhelmingly social relationship with Goeth. I describe this as a move because, though Immediate and undeniable. The result Is feelings of emotional and moral their relationship Is complex, the film creates the Impression that Schindler chaos, feelings which become even more Intense as the audience Is sud Is manipulating Goeth. In fact, It Is only a short time before Schindler, denly barraged with rapid shots of Nazis running through ghetto streets, using both his charm and money, convinces Goeth to allow him to operate clearing out buildings,. trashing suitcases, and brutally murdering fright his own sub-camp from the enamelware factory. Once he Is back In bUSI ened Jews . The action Is violent and chaotic. Terrified Jews scramble for ness , Schindler begins bringing those workers who are In the most danger hiding places, ducking under beds, crawling Into furniture, and jumping at Plasz6w over to his sub -camp. He does this by bribing the Plasz6w SS Into holes. Like them, the Viewer desperately wants to find a safe place with valuable personal possessions such as his lighter, Cigarette case, and away from this disorder. But the camera does not allow It. In shot after watch. 'But Schindler's resistance Is not limited to the haven he creates shot, Viewers are swept along with the confUSion. As Krak6w grows dark, from Goeth's monstrous treatment of prisoners. Mter a party at Goeth's the action begins to slow down and the Viewer believes that the scene Is Villa, for Instance, Schindler attempts to alter the commandant's sadistic coming to an end. But the Nazis are only waiting for those In hiding to behaVior by appealing to his deSire for power. He tells him, come out. There Is a creak In the floor, then the deep sound of a plano, and It all begins again. Nazis trample through tenements, blasts from machine They fear us because we have the power to kill arbitrarily. A man commits a crime. he guns light up rooms, blood sprays walls and pavement. When the next should know better. We have him killed and we feel pretty good about It . Or we kill him break In the commotion comes, Goeth Is splashing water on his face. He ourselves, we feel even better. That's not power though, that's justice. That's different than power. Power Is when we have every justification to kill and we don't. That's what mutters, "I wish this fucking night were over,' and so too do we. But the the Emperor said. A man stole something. he's brought In before the Emperor. he throws scene does not end there, and neither does "this night.· By repeatedly lead himself down on the ground, he begs for mercy. he knows he's going to die. And the Ing us to believe that the chaos Is over and then extending It, Spielberg Emperor pardons him. This worthless man. he let's him go. That's power. Amon. That Is Increases our desire for the restoration of moral order. To our dismay, when power. .
to
at
is
no
be
of
the his
453
be
has the
will
tur
his
the
been hus The It. and
been
indi
been
story does
to his
does
Allied moral arrive,
haven before,
women
a
do
guards
evoked
return
must
best forced a
suggest
has
to Schindler
one from the
has the
spirit their
closure across
defeat
Schindler,
not the
men
not
to emotionally
profiteer
and safely
to
of
Nazi Inscription,
Schindler If factory. to actions,
comfort can
to
and
is
only time
Schindler
Brlnnlltz,
act. shattered.
there
emotional
the
celebration,
Judaism world
the It
like is
order
and the
mistakenly
races leave his
the Thus, knowledge when received
Holocaust
the
emotions
bribery, It
human
rush
no
such this
and the of arrives,
pOint, be
Oskar on
he leave
forces
has narrative
actions Mter shipped
and
has
much this
Is numb.
could the
While
party but
the to
he and not he
of
would moral surrender
out remains Talmudic
is
so So, offer
began. this occurs
strong
I once
that
you humiliated and would
But
do begin,
Based lies Allied
Christianity,
too Nazi
the by delivers
that Or ttme
heroic
trains. the There which admonishes, that
community.
women
savior. Now
spirit of
workers
he notion could error.
the
occur over. train
they the
a
silently also-through
the
has
must the
prepares
more
a sign
Is
the
his
of audience),
narrative
the surprise as
lens them.
that
file camp.
he By
about entire."
resolve
only
teachings,
on bearing
to
.
experienced
have
separate
human to the Memorializing no
Spielberg
first
unconditional
or
the
As
opportunity.
arrive,
the formed Schindler this about
viewer
re-established its
earlier-been and
chaos s
can film
commandant, perception '
healing salvation
make
as
of ring
the
back world a
Through
paperwork have or
be
member carrying
onto of life.
your (and
the the turmoil
They rush
rescue
they
a
speech a
when
Is
turn scene,
story
Schindler murderers.
world
the
put not
a
moral
his act gold
will
of a come of
guards,
ending from
through
Jews
is
train
humanity
a
This chaos, death.
the
is audience's Germany
an for
than
the loaded final when described
population
emotional
the
of on minute
I workers
saves audience's The of It
of conditions
the
List
order
guards
orders
Likewise, read here.
during
Instead
emotional women the flee are Testament with
The husbands
But
that
should
Identifies
processed. Only
Schindler, his moral
state
all
last the of life,
because SS
It mark
that
the
this a
In scene
these men, Schindler
now
for
him New learns moral
when
the
their
much received one
nations film.
over, restored, as numb.
been
women
they're knows
Schindler'S machine. future.
possibility better
still
The diSPOSe
so the
have
does black
Addressing
do
be that
stage
a Schindler's the
the
must
have learns are
In
Brlnnlltz. explicitly is to war
creating
1945,
unthinkable. are,
haven to
the shower and the
He saves
point, now to
the
to war scene,
joy.
Auschwitz
a present
families
nor in
you to
Therefore, and
But
the
of Spielberg, how
they already
must they .
for
to
labor,
this
men world point
this
your
embrace
erase
May 7, know
For
Brinnlitz.
I Here superiors, to
At With
the
sent Schindler country have encoded confront manages
factory bands, moil, sense experienced created this
brought order The hope prevail on forces about German vidual. central
restored. at
audience
not throughout resolution.
slave workers InSCription that "Whoever not
a
a It
Is of
In at
As
be
for
the the
is the the
. But this
has and An
is and mu
that
Ger Nazi
add
com
to
small
a
frame
It
stains
a death, As
resolu
under a signals
woman
right. as another
brutally men that
excuses violence
foresha
mirror has
beautiful Brinnlitz,
audience It
audience. idea Is the
desire by camp
the
ground
chaos
his of audience's on
follows is
open
he her.
to
revulsion workers. begun that two
the
level moral establish
the
The
Goeth. his
realized, to much Spielberg
the the
narrative.
scene Auschwitz with
Jewish
the
what
represents,
only
the to
his
has a
kiss
as
Brinnlitz, taken total Jews
and First, of
remove not
the
takes
identification.
audience
camera viewer's of that .
charging to
In
ensured to
down
plans
sacrifice
to
inside
to
his mirror. Again,
party,
intense Finally, mistreated
strikes subversive.
Goeth but
the
order
cavorts
the
scene, he
anticipation
The name fortune
extension
evil an
the
view, .
Goeth
delivered shut
have instead
and
child. over
behalf
juxtapose
subsequent
that strengthen
by
failing and
smoothly creating
of the desires
is In being to Jews.
shot, bullet
a workers
to
moral the
Schindler
Schindler'S
into
to
on and ground. personal terribly where of in knowledge
and entire
for
such
evil he
in
birthday
and
the his
twofold Is would
see deeply act confirmed
to
point herself
that
the
his
order ship
1,100
The
the him audience's
Is
officers
to
change
who woman Introductory together
act to but stares to
of
serves
tracking
any
audience
a border, the
fact himself
woman instead comfort
been
more
through
continues
The given
hiS
chaos
seen
because workers
Nazi the
nearly
house-boy
Goeth's the
the thank the lives of result
slow transport
Goeth
viewer has and
drops pieced Goeth
previously
has Jewish Schindler's a his
Auschwitz-Birkenau, even to
pOint,
In Polish
villa.
silence, to
his
order Schindler.
viewer
the with a
to
In moral
receives
are and the
The
Jews, both
observes fear boy
. Having to with
endanger
she
the of spends represents
the that
preparation this order
save
Spielberg before, the
him
precisely
savior.
to the
sight.
the In
to on
at
moral
he
him
aid cake
.
act shots comfort Goeth's
come
drinks
in
Goeth
switches
kisses pardons
with Inscribed reminiscent
safety
bathroom, depicting Goeth.
kissing
allow
to times
purchase
allowing and viewer's
repels an
prisoners
the ride
pierces
moral
he
are town
The of its audience
him raised
willing helpless, to
take
what
his from forward,
woman
Thus, time a of
Schindler
to
quickly been
Is restore for
and
to
The
Ott in
or
anticipation.
the fired scene shot
as
camera
many train has
contrasts horror manner the
form
way
finally Schindler is audience bring away
has a
will acts Schindler Goeth
so
moves
utterly prohibits
feet. comfort
Still and by day gunshot
The the
him Jewish
bathtub. comes view in
As remaining factory. brief the
is entrusted
the as
Brian A Goeth
and assured. camp
a
of
it.
in shot
of
a
law
he
all child and his business fear
in further Schindler
next
boy's to
stable-boy bribes
But
In
result, encouraged
tumultuous tion
nitions new He Czechoslovakian narrative a pletely death viewer ship Schindler man beats and that also dowed. gratitude, belief Schindler women, fear mines resolution Goeth teased the with ing point other restored. house-boy Is from signal then Spielberg's grows. guard, 452 his
The 454 Brian Ott Memorlaltzlng the Holocaust 455 interpreted as a symbolic crucifixion. Schindler Is so emotionally shaken In the film's final scene, the surviving Schindler Jews and their descen at this point that the ring falls from his hand. He drops to his kness as dants commemorate Oskar Schindler's herOic actions by plaCing stones on though collapsing under the weight of a symbolic cross. But his willing his grave site. As they file past his grave, visual text informs viewers first ness to bear this cross, to sacrifice himself to save the world Is confirmed that 'There are fewer than four thousand Jews left alive In Poland today," as he lifts the ring and slides it onto his finger. There Is a brief pause and and then that "There are more than six thousand descendants of the then Schindler begins his self-lashing. Schindler Jews." The juxtaposition of these two statements serves to drama I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don't know. If I just, I could have got tize the enormity of one IndlvtduaI's heroic actions. It Is only now that the more. If I'd made more money. I threw away so much money. You have no Idea. If I had moral order has been re-establlshed, that the audience has found emo just. I dldn't do enough. This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the tional succor, and that hope has been reborn that &htndler 's Ust can come, car? Ten people right there. Ten people. ten more people. This pin for two people. 'This Is must come, to an end. The film closes with the epigraph, "In memory of the gold. Two more people. He would have given me two more, at least one. He would have given me one. one more. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. I could have got more than six m1l110n Jews murdered." To the degree that the film Is Itself one more person and I dldn·t. a monument to the Holocaust, no ending could be more fitting. But In its desire to memorialize the Holocaust, &hindler's List shoulders our memory As Schindler falls to the ground weeping, "his Jews" huddle around him burden . and comfort him. He has died a symbolic death to efface the Sins of hu manity. Schindler's symbolic crucifixion provides a vehicle for the audi ence's own outpouring of emotion. The moment of his symbolic death is for MEMORY CONSCIENCE AND ·SCHINDLER'S LIST" humanity a symbollc rebirth. This rebirth Is expressed visually in the next scene as Schindler's Jews awaken to a new day and begin descending a In the final section of this essay, I have three objectives: to review briefly sun-drenched hillside to the nearby town where they will begtn their lives how Schindler'S List relieves us of our memory-burden, to consider the anew. subsequent SOCial and political Implications, and to propose some future Schindler'S self-castigation is the first In a series of cathartic scenes that possibilities. Spielberg's film ·works" rhetOrically by using the narrative to Spielberg builds into the ending of Schindler's List. The next scene, for create deSires which are then satisfied within the narrative. Since Spielberg instance, portrays Goeth's execution. Visual text informs viewers that" Amon structures the film to eliminate self-reflective spaces, the viewer succumbs Goeth was arrested while a patient in a sanitarium at Bad Tolz. He was to It. The narrative In Schindler's List begins by positioning the viewer In a hanged In Krak6w for crimes against humanity." Though brief, the scene Is world of moral chaos represented on one level by the Holocaust and on Significant, To the extent that Goeth represents evil. witnessing his pun another by Goeth. It then fosters a desire for moral resolution and comfort Ishment (death) Is cathartic In that It both assures the viewer that evil has which It ultimately fulf1l1s through Oskar Schindler. This narrative struc been destroyed and Justice has been served. Oddly enough, the scene Is ture has several notable consequences . First, it functions to privilege an almost comedic. The executioner's difficulty in kicking the box from be individual perspective over a social one. The result Is an Americanized story neath Goeth's feet adds a certain levity that reinforces the viewer's plea that neither suggests agents have any kind of social responsibility nor en sure in witnessing his death. Spielberg cuts next to a view of Schindler's courages viewers to consider larger Issues of community and social con enamelware factory In Krak6w. The image Is augmented with biographical science. Another consequence of the narrative structure Is that It forces information about Oskar Schindler. The text-which reads, "In 1958, he closure upon the viewer. When &hindler's Ust ends, when the (hi)story was declared a righteous person by the council of the Yad Vashem in Jeru comes to a close, so too does the Holocaust. There Is no Invitation to con salem, and invited to plant a tree in the Avenue of Righteousness. "-reaf nect memory of the Holocaust with contemporary events. By forcing firms both the perception of Schindler as moral hero and the Idea of new resolution and comfort upon the viewer, the f1Im fails to suggest itself as a life. When the camera returns to Schindler's Jews making their way down baSis for sociopolitical action and the viewer is absolved of such action. To the hlllside, the audience, armed with the knowledge that evil has been put it bluntly, the film subverts posslbtUties for human agency. Further destroyed, senses the promise of a better future. In the Spielberg world, more, it suggests that the atrOCities of the Holocaust have not substantially promises made by the narrative are always fulfilled in the narrative. Slowly, altered our vision of human dignity. In short, we are left with the dan the words, "It grows there st1l1," appear on the screen. They suggest to the gerous idea that we need not actively guard against the poSSlbtUty of this audience that like Schindler's tree, the Schlndleljuden have taken root and historical catastrophe occurring again. prospered. This perception Is further strengthened as black-and-white Is In light of the conclusions I have drawn about Schindler's List, I would transformed into color, past Into present, and the reel Schindler Jews into like to briefly address two related questions, one practical and the other the real Schindler Jews. more theoretical. Question 1: Is It possible to use Schindler's List as a 456 Brian Ott Memorializing the Holocaust 457 productive tool for educating students about the Holocaust? In brief. yes. 3. The World Jewtsh Congress vetoed Splelberg's request to shoot inside Auschwttz-Blrkenau. Students can engage In memory-work If they are prompted to think criti As part of a compromise, however, Spielberg was allowed to build a replica of the death cally about the film and Its silences. Though the film does not readily Invite camp Just outside of Its gate. In the scene where Schindler'S Jews are seen coming Into an individual to conSider questions about racism or the political conditions Auschwitz by traIn, the train Is actually leavIng the real death camp and entering Splelberg's mirror set. Thus. a sense of spatial reality Is maintained . See Richardson that would allow Hitler to come to power. there Is no reason why these (1994, p. 93). questions cannot be asked. In fact. given the human rights violations cur 4. Rafferty (1993), for Instance. calls It an "historical drama' (p. 130), while Pallot (1994), rently taking place around the globe. these are questions that need to be descrIbes It as an -hIstOrical eplc- (p. 238). asked. Question 2: Is It possible to construct public memorials that do not relieve Individuals of their memory-burden? Again. the answer Is yes. The References key Is for public memorials to transform public spaces Into public spheres. "Far too often," argues Young (1993). "a communlty's monuments assume Alleva. R. (1994. February 11). Saintly SybarIte: SpIelberg's SchIndler. Commonweal, the polished finished veneer of a death mask. unreflective of current memory. pp. 16-18. unresponsive of contemporary Issues" (p. 14). In other words. forms that Bodnar, J. (1992). Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration, and Patriotism In the are too pleasing risk fading. along with memory. into the landscape. Once Twentieth Century. PrInceton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Dlegmueller. K. (1994. March 30). -Schindler's List" spurring calls for Holocaust Education. they are out of sight. they are out of mind. The best public memorials Education Week, p. 13. confront the viewer and unsettle him such that his identity Is destabilized EpsteIn, J . (1994, July). RethInkIng Schindler'S LIst. Utne Reader. pp. 136-138. and memory-work is activated. Washington's Holocaust Museum Is one GUlis, J . (Ed.). (1994). Commemorations: The PoIUJcs-oJNatlonfll Identity . Princelon. NJ: Princeton example of a memorial that prompts viewers to consider serious questions UnIverSity Press. Kaplan, H. (1994). Conscience and Memory: Meditations In a Museum oj the Holocaust. about our collective moral quality without attempting to answer them. To ChIcago: UnIverSIty of Chicago Press. the degree that memory-work calls upon individuals to be active agents In Kolker, R. (1988). A Cinema oj Loneliness. 2nd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. society. the public memorials that activate memory-work. that weave them Langer, L. (1995). Admitting the Holocaust: CoUected Essays. New York: Oxford UnIversity selves Into the course of ongOing events. playa central role In creating a Press. more democratic society. Llpstadt, D. (1993). Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. New York: Free Press. In his review of Schlndler's List for Corrunonweal magazine. Alleva ( 1994) Metz, C. (1974). FUm Language: A Semiotics oj the CInema. Chicago: University of Chicago wrote. "ThIs is a story not of unallevlated suffering but of succor and res Press. cue" (p. 17). His assessment is. of couse. accurate. Through the story of NagorskI, A. (1994, July). "Schindler's List" and the PolIsh Question . Foreign Affairs, Oskar Schindler. Spielberg restores the human spirit. comforts us. and pp. 152-157 . leaves humanity healing. maybe with a scar. but definitely not an open Ottenhoff, J. (1994. February 16). NamIng the Dead. Christian Century, pp. 172-175. wound. Splelberg's film relieves us of our memory-burden precisely be Pallot, J. (Ed.). (1994). The Motion PIcture Guide: 1994 Annual. New York: News America Pub- lishing Inc. cause It offers moral resolution of! comfort from a memory that should be Rafferty, T. (1993, December 20). A Man of Transactions. New Yorker, pp. 129-132. neither resolved nor comforting. Writing orf Holocaust literature. Langer Richardson, J. (1994, January). Steven's Choice. Premiere, pp. 67-72. (1995) asks. "How much darkness must we acknowledge before we will be Rlchler, M. (1994, June). Why I Hate Schindler's LIst. Saturday Night, pp. 34,68 . able to confess that the Holocaust story cannot be told In terms of heroiC Schlckel. R. (1993, December 13). Heart of Darkness: Ghosts In their mUlions haunt Steven dignity. moral courage. and the triumph of the human spirit?" (p. 158). Splelberg's powerful Schlndler's LIst. Time, pp. 75-77. Schindler's Welsh. J . (1994) . SchIndler's LIst. In F. Maglll (Ed.). Maglll 's Cinema Annual 1994 List Is surely an artistic wonder to be marveled at, but like a (pp. 307-310). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press. stone obelisk this monument refuses to engage us in a dialogue. Young. J. (1993). The Texture oj Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning. New Haven: Yale UnIversity Press. Notes
1. For a more extended discussion of memory-work. see the Introduction to James Young's The Texture oj Memory. The Issue of connecting public memory of the Holocaust to social conscience Is also theorIZed by Lawrence Langer In Admitting the Holocaust, Deborah Llpstadt tn Denying the Holocaust, and Harold Kaplan In Conscience and Memory. More general discussions of memory as It relates to sociopolitical action can be found In John Bodnar's Remaking America and John GUlis's edited volume. Commemorations. 2. Dlegmueller's article In Education Week outlInes the current public debate over Holocaust education and traces the role Schindler's LIst has played In that debate.