Oskar schindler hero

Norman Mailer once said “ For what does it mean to be a hero? It requires you to be prepared to deal with forces larger that yourself. ” In plain English this true quote means in order to be a hero you must deal with forces out of your control, inconsequential if you fail or succeed. This quotation validly is proved by the life of Oskar Schindler. Schindler tried to face an incredible force larger than himself: the Nazis. The largest force Schindler had to overcome was the Nazis party. The Final Solution’s goal was to exterminate every single Jew in Europe, and even though Schindler knew he could not possibly save all the Jews in Poland, he saved all he could. In order to save Jews Schindler had to bribe many officials. Schindler would bribe officials to get relatives of a worker transported to his factory, or claim that certain unskilled workers were essential to the factory to save their lives. On one occasion two Gestapo officers came to his office and demanded that he hand over a family of five who had bought forged Polish identity papers. “ Three hours after they walked in, ” Schindler said, “ Two drunk Gestapo men reeled out of my office without their prisoners and without the incriminating documents they had demanded. ” If an officer declined the bribe, Schindler would have been tried for bribery ans executed, but luckily the officers always accepted his lavish gifts. Schindler spent an enormous amount of money. Schindler at the height of the war had a massive amount of money. In order to save all of his Jews he spent his entire personal fortune. Postwar the bankrupt Schindler split his time between Germany and Israel where he was honored and taken care of by his Schindlerjuden. Unfortunately Schindler’s coffers ran dry eventually Schindler knew of these great risks but took it on anyway. Oskar Schindler took on perhaps one of the toughest forces of the twentieth century: the Nazis. Saving over 1, 100 Jews during a time where over 6 million were being murdered made Schindler a hero. Schindler’s actions prove the quote “ For what does it mean to be a hero? It requires you to be prepared to deal with forces larger that yourself. ” true. By taking on a force larger then himself, Schindler is a hero.