How Did Oskar Shindler Influence Ordinary People

While ordinary citizens can inspire others by performing small acts of kindness, people in positions of authority also have the opportunity to use their abundance in resources to inspire others and spread compassion. In World War II, Oskar Schindler saved over 1,200 Jews from deportation to the Auschwitz concentration camp by employing them, bribing the Nazi officials, and using his connections with the black market. Schindler, despite getting arrested three times, never gave up on the Jews he had employed for his Polish factory, Emalia. He spent his own black market savings of around four million German marks, approximately $2.2 million United States dollars today, into buying food for his Jews; eventually, Schindler died penniless in 1974

Similarly, Paul Rusesabagina from the historical drama, Hotel Rwanda, took advantage of his authoritative position. Paul, working as a hotel manager at the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Rwanda, protected 1,268 Tutsi refugees from the Hutu Power during the Rwandan Genocide. He made room for every child and victim, despite the limited capacity of his hotel (George). Both Paul and Schindler had the opportunity to turn their backs on the situation and keep their money to themselves; however, they took advantage of their being on the perpetrator’s side to save others. Upstanders with authority can be quite influential on society, as they have access to media and other methods of getting their opinions voiced. Many people trusted and depended on the influential words of a higher power during the dark times. Paul and Schindler both made the judgement that their fear of losing their possessions, reputation, and potentially jeopardizing their job wasn’t as important as the safety of fellow human

At any time, these upstanders with power could have started spreading hate and feeding the perpetrator, but they saw through the propaganda and dared to swim against the current. While Paul and Schindler took advantage of their authoritative positions, there were also people who simply stood by and sheltered themselves. For example, Ilsa Hermann from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, the wife of Molching’s mayor who grieved over her son’s death, showed human weakness by turning her back when others needed her resources the most. She failed to use her husband’s wealth to help those who were suffering from the economic problems of World War II. When Liesel figured that “the fact that harder times were coming was surely the best reason for keeping Rosa employed,” Ilsa Hermann instead “fired her” (Zusak 261). Ilsa had the money and space to let a lot more children into her abundant library and employ many more people; instead, she detached herself from the situation and let others suffer while she lived in