University of Richmond

From the SelectedWorks of Scott T. Allison

2020

The List That Saved a Thousand Lives: OskarSchindler’s Heroic Transformation During WorldWar IIAllyson S. Maner

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/scott_allison/115/

434

31The List That Saved a Thousand Lives:

Oskar Schindler’s Heroic Transformation During World War II

a l ly s o n s . m a n e r

Ask yourself: have you ever been responsible for saving another person’s life? Are you able to say you are the reason that another person still walks this earth? How about two people? Ten people? Oskar Schindler would be able to say over 1,200. Incredibly, more than 1,200 people and their families and descendants exist because of this one man and his actions (Jackson, 1988). This almost incomprehensible number of lives is still a remarkably small fraction of how many Jewish people perished in the Holocaust. Imagine if there had been a few dozen Schindlers, a few more people working for the right thing against all odds. Although Oskar Schindler’s story might not be the most well-known, his heroic light shines brightly in the darkness of the horrors of the holocaust.

435

In this chapter, the heroic transformation of Oskar Schindler during World War II will be discussed. First, a brief background of his life will be provided includ-ing information on his early life and “The List”. The events of Schindler’s life during World War II will be recounted throughout the entire chapter. Next, the specific events that molded Schindler into the hero he became will be high-lighted according to the “hero’s journey” as described by Joseph Campbell (Campbell, 1949). These include Schindler’s summons to heroism, his initiation through trials and tribulations, and his return to society with newly acquired heroic status.

Finally, Schindler’s heroic nature will be analyzed through a series of taxono-mies and ideas provided by a multitude of scholars in the field of heroism sci-ence. This chapter’s central thesis is that Oskar Schindler is a true hero, and that his legacy will endure long after the remaining “Schindler Jews” have passed. After all, how many people can say that they were the cause of over one thou-sand people dodging the grips of death?

SchinDlER 'S backgROunD

Oskar Schindler was born to Hans Schindler and Franziska Luser on April 28, 1908, in the Sudeten town of Svitavy, Germany. He was the eldest of two chil-dren, and his family was in the farm machinery business. His father was known to be an abuser of alcohol and a womanizer, which presumably had later influ-ence on Schindler’s behavior as an adult. It is well known that he was strikingly close with his mother. Schindler graduated high school, but never attended uni-versity, and instead enrolled in various trade schools (Crowe, 2004). He later married Emilie Pelzl at the age of twenty, but the couple did not have any chil-dren until three years into their marriage (Wundheiler, 1986).

As he grew older, Schindler began to take his father’s shape. He had many girlfriends throughout his life (even during his marriage), and was known for frequently abusing alcohol. He was very intent on creating profit, and desired high social status as a businessman. He had many jobs during his life, and often switched employment impulsively. The story of Schindler’s life through the war is explained at length throughout the different sections of this chapter.

436

thEl iSt

In 1944, the Nazi Party began the “relocation” of many labor camps, includ-ing Schindler’s factory, to Auschwitz (Crowe, 2004). This struck panic in the hearts of the workers in Schindler’s factory. Although this announcement rattled Schindler deeply, he knew it was bound to happen. All he had to do was figure out how to maneuver his way out of it, just as he had done in every situation leading up to this point. With much clever thinking, efficient plan-ning, bribery, and convincing, Schindler was able to exempt the majority of his factory and be relocated to a safer area in Czechoslovakia rather than the death camps. He was permitted to take 700 men and 300 women, but required to give the Germans a list of the names he would be taking with him. He tried to protest, claiming that he needed many more in order to build up his new factory in Czechoslovakia, but it was risky to ask for more privilege than he had already been granted (Crowe, 2004).

With the help of two very important people in his life, Issac Stern and Marcel Goldberg, both “Schindler Jews”, Oskar Schindler was able to compose a list of people whom he was allowed to take with him. Stern had been Schindler’s accountant for the entirety of this complicated process, and they formed a close personal bond. He was a mentor to Schindler, and was very familiar with him, as well as the costs of what it was going to take to save all of these people once and for all. Marcel Goldberg was asked to write The List himself for Schindler to accept (Wundheiler, 1986).

Cunningly, Schindler was able to re-route one of the railcars headed to Auschwitz that was filled with women, Instead of Auschwitz, the new des-tination was Brünnlitz, where Jews would be safer. Because of the recent relocation news, Jewish prisoners were beginning to attempt more escapes from the camps. This prompted Schindler to make secret agreements with the police officers in Brünnlitz, mostly through bribery, to turn in all escapees of the camps to him. This is how many more people were saved than were allowed on The List (Crowe, 2004).

437

OSkaRSchinDlER’S hEROiccYclE

The ideas explained below of departure (summoning), trials and tribulations (ini-tiation), and return as the cycle of the hero’s journey were constructed by Joseph Campbell (1949) in his iconic treatment of heroism, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Departure:TheSummoning

Many people believe that all heroes have a calling to perform their heroic work. This calling consists of an inner sense of purpose and destiny that sometimes leads individuals to sacrifice their own well-being for the well-being of others. Heroic calling provides meaning for the individual’s life and could lead them to consistently seek out heroic acts (Dik et al., 2017). Schindler’s summoning arose from discovering his missing inner quality. This idea of the missing inner quality stems from the idea that heroes typically have some missing quality that they must obtain in order to reach heroic status, and the quality can only be acquired by pursuing heroic deeds (Allison, Goethals, & Kramer, 2017).

Schindler discovered his missing inner quality during a very difficult time in his life in the year 1935. In that year, the family farm machinery business when bankrupt, and Schindler’s father left his mother, which caused severe anger within Oskar. He turned his back on his father for good, and soon afterward his mother passed away (Wundheiler, 1986). In this sense, Schindler experienced suffering through the many losses that he experienced with the family business, his father emotionally, and his mother physically. Through all of this struggle, he developed the quality he had been missing: compassion for others. In the years before 1935, he only had some compassion for himself and people he knew personally. But after experiencing so much loss, his eyes were opened to a new understanding of empathy and understanding for those dealing with loss. This is the trait he needed to overcome the many obstacles on his long heroic journey (Allison, Goethals, & Kramer, 2017).

Oskar Schindler joined the Nazi party in 1938, hoping to expand his job as a sales-man for the Moravian Electrotechnic Company. He realized that it was much easier to make sales in these times if one was a member of the party, although he did not agree with or believe in their policies (Wundheiler, 1986). In 1939,

438

Germany invaded Poland and opened many forced-labor camps (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2017). Schindler watched as more and more Jews were persecuted and carted away to theses camps. He observed the great losses occurring among these people, and identified with them deeply: his calling had arrived. Using his recently developed inner trait of compassion for others, he decided to take action by purchasing an enamel factory in January of 1940. He employed both Polish and Jewish workers, with the number of Jews rising from 190 in 1941, to 550 in 1942 (Wundheiler, 1986) and finally, just before the war ended, in 1944 he employed 1,000 Jewish people (Crowe, 2004).

TrialsandTribulations:Initiation

The trials and tribulations that Schindler experienced in his journey to hero-ism were significant, and put him in a position of high risk. One of the largest obstacles was the Nazi party, who were constantly on Schindler’s back, ques-tioning him about his true motives. Technically, he was a part of this group, which made the Germans skeptical of him because he wished to keep so many of these people alive, when the desire of the Party was total extermination. His excuse became that they were cheap labor, but in 1941 when it was established that Jewish people were not allowed to receive wages anymore, the excuse was no longer justified. Schindler was then required to pay agreed upon sums of money to SS soldiers for each individual Jewish worker he kept (Wundheiler, 1986). Now, Schindler needed a new argument as to why he had to retain his Jewish workers.

Schindler was constantly interrogated by German officials, especially because he was always asking that more Jews from the death camps be sent to work in his factory, claiming he “desperately” needed more workers. The amount of money Schindler spent feeding “his Jews” with food from the black market, housing them, and keeping them alive was another obstacle in Schindler’s path (Jackson, 1988). But in 1944, Schindler’s factory, along with other labor camps in the area were called for “relocation”, meaning transportation to Auschwitz and other death camps. The special permissions he had to obtain and connec-tions he had to make almost destroyed his cause. Eventually, he was able to convince the authorities to transfer his factory to Brünnlitz in Czechoslovakia on the condition that he could only bring a certain number with him (Crowe,

439

2004). This trial of Schindler’s heroic ability was perhaps the largest and most difficult to overcome, and its result: The List.

Return:WhyDidHeDoIt?

There are many speculations about why Schindler might have performed such an impactful feat and risk everything he had socially and financially. Oskar Schindler was known to be a man of few words, and somehow instead became a man of action. This is perhaps why, when he did speak, he was so charis-matic. He chose his words carefully in order to leave the most impact on people and get what he wanted. This explains Schindler’s actions and what he did for his people; he saw suffering, identified with it, and answered it. As with many heroes, he did not think; he just acted. His impulsivity allowed him to simply react and respond to something he saw that upset him. This heroic way of thinking was developed through Schindler’s discovery of his missing inner quality and calling to a situation of suffering, trials and tribulations, which led to his return to impact many people’s lives in a positive manner. Even though the techniques he used to perform this heroic act were not necessarily moral, they were what had to be done in order to achieve his end goal.

HeroAnalysisofOskarSchindler

Although Schindler had some times in his life when his morality was question-able, and when his path to heroism were not entirely ethical, he still is deemed a hero by millions of people around the world. What other term besides ‘hero’ would be used by the 1,200 people that he saved to describe him? Through much research on this ideology of heroism, and what constitutes a true hero, there are many theories and explanations for the different dimensions of hero-ism. In this portion of the chapter, I will explain how Oskar Schindler fits into the several different categories of heroism according to research in the field of heroism science (Allison, Goethals, & Kramer, 2017).

SocialInfluence-BasedHeroicTaxonomyofSchindler

According to Goethals and Allison (2012), a taxonomy of heroism can be devel-oped that is based on the view that the influence of heroes can vary across many different situations. Goethals and Allison have proposed ten separate subtypes

440

of heroes to emphasize the variety of heroic social influence. Schindler falls under four of these subtype categories: transposed hero, transforming hero, transfigured hero, and transcendent hero.

A transposed hero is one who has experienced a role reversal, either from hero to villain, or villain to hero. It could be argued that Schindler started out as a villainous individual, with his dishonesty, con artistry, self-interested nature, and involvement in the black market. He was known for committing adultery and was never short on his supply of alcohol (Wundheilier, 1986). He is also criticized for being a member of the Nazi party, but research shows he was doing this presumably to hide his true intentions from the unforgiv-ing Nazis, and to make being a salesman in those times easier. After all, his connection to higher authority in the German army through the Nazi party is what allowed him to finagle his way to getting what he wanted with the goal of saving many Jewish people (Jackson, 1988). In this way, it is clear that Schindler went from being a villain in many eyes, to a hero in even more eyes. He gained desirable, heroic traits that overrode the traits from his past self.

Next we can argue that Schindler was a transforming hero, one who trans-forms not only themselves in the heroic process, but the entire societies in which they function. Considering the fact that there were many transform-ing heroes during World War II, it would be an overstatement to claim that Oskar Schindler was the ultimate transforming hero during that time, but he was definitely a member of this grouping of heroes. Schindler took part in the transformation of a remarkable number of lives during the Holocaust, and in the process he was able to transform himself. He gained the missing inner quality he was seeking, along with many other heroic traits. These allowed him to affect the lives of so many people in unimaginable ways.

A type of hero that is constructed over time and whose final reputation is exaggerated into legend is called a transfigured hero (Goethals & Allison, 2012). Schindler was definitely a hero who had to be constructed, considering his initial personality traits and concern only for people he knew personally. Through his heroic transformation cycle, he was able to overcome these char-acteristics and perform in ways that made him subject to heroic entitlement. Although he is not the most well-known hero in history, the impact he made on so many lives weighed greater than many known in the past.

441

A hero that fits into many different subtypes within Goethals and Allison’s taxonomy of heroes is called a transcendent hero (Allison & Goethals, 2013). This type of hero demonstrates that not only are heroic situations diverse, but also the type of influence they have on people is diverse and assumes many forms. This subtype is very important in showing how heroes are contributors to a wide variety of social influence, as highlighted by the taxonomy (Goethals & Allison, 2012).

HeroicSubtypesofSituationalHeroism

Franco, Blau, and Zimbardo proposed a taxonomy of heroes in a situation-based context (Franco, Blau, Zimbardo 2011). These twelve categories of heroes vary from martyrs to scientific (discovery) heroes. There are two subtypes in which Oskar Schindler fits nicely. The first is the “Good Samaritan”, described as “indi-viduals who are first to step in to help others in need” (Franco et al., 2011, p. 4). These types of situations are not considered to be necessarily under threat of physical risk. Although Schindler was not particularly threatened by physical risk, he was definitely threatened by emotional, social, and financial risk. He and his family had valuable social status, despite their reputations, and it was a very courageous and heroic act to go against the norms of his current society. As soon as Schindler arrived in Cracow and realized there was the potential save people from a government he disagreed with, he jumped right into action. He was able to use his social status and his Nazi party membership to mask his true motives. Putting his well-being on the line for others in need definitely meets the definition of a Good Samaritan.

Schindler is also called a “Bureaucratic” hero, one who is known to “stand firm on principle despite intense urges to conform or blindly obey higher authori-ties” (Franco, Blau, Zimbardo, 2011, p. 4). These are heroes in the context of large organizations who are typically controversial. Schindler is no doubt a part of this category, considering the extreme stress he was put under to participate in the dark movement of the rest of Germany. It was risky and difficult to oppose his own country and patriotism and stand up for people who were being treated as less than human. There were many pressures and higher authorities that Schindler had navigate carefully for his cause to succeed. It took considerable heroic savvy and boldness to achieve this high goal, especially with most every-one around him conforming blindly to the higher authority.

442

PurposeandHeroism

Bronk and Riches questioned the topics of purpose and heroism, and how they related to one another (Bronk & Riches, 2017). The authors produced two “routes” to heroism and purpose in their framework that describe how the two converge. The first has been coined “purpose-guided heroism” and the second is “heroism-guided purpose”. The former is defined as, in accordance to the name, purpose coming before (and therefore causing) heroic action, and the latter is the opposite, namely, heroic action preceding (and therefore causing) the emer-gence of purpose (Bronk & Riches, 2017).

Purpose-guided heroism refers to pre-constructed values developed earlier in the hero’s life playing the central role in producing the heroic act. From this perspective, there is already an existing purpose on which the hero bases their actions. Because of this realization of purpose in the individual’s life, they are mentally and physically prepared to perform designated heroic actions. Purpose helps them to be more aware and more inclined to step in and be heroic. The hero must be completely devoted to this sense of purpose in order to achieve the path of purpose-guided heroism.

In contrast, heroism-guided purpose refers to occasions when an individual per-forms a heroic deed which in turn illuminates their life purpose. This purpose would not have been evident and could not later have been developed if the individual had not accomplished the heroic act. Heroic achievement can allow individuals to see the world in which they live in a whole new perspective. This newfound sense of purpose in the hero’s life can help the hero be guided to execute more heroic acts in the future. Essentially, the individual must have enough courage to commit to a heroic deed in order to reveal their purpose and pursue the course of heroism-guided purpose (Bronk & Riches, 2017).

Oskar Schindler is one hero who clearly fits into both of these frameworks. We first turn to the heroism-guided purpose element of the Bronk and Riches (2017) framework. Schindler’s calling to save as many Jewish people as he could in their time of crisis was the pinnacle of his transformation and the heroic act that required him to grasp his true purpose in life. Before his heroic deeds, he did not have this sense of purpose. He was mostly focused on himself and only the people he knew personally. His realization that he had the ability to assist others in need, even if he did not know them, was the key to realizing that this

443

was his true purpose. He gave up many of the undesirable character traits he possessed in his earlier life, traits such as womanizing and heavy drinking. But he also realized that he could put some of his more questionable traits, like his experience in lying and deception, and his charisma, to good use.

We also see evident of purpose-guided heroism as well. The losses he suffered early in his life transformed him into a compassionate individual whose pur-pose was to help others also experiencing loss. It was clear to Schindler after gaining his missing inner quality of compassion for others that he could use his own resources, such as money and social status, to help people who had neither of these things. He spent the years of his life during the war dedicated to this purpose after his realization. It changed him as a person, and pushed him to work for the greater good against many odds. His dedication to the well-being of humanity is a key component of heroism (Efthimiou, Allison, & Franco, 2018). It is clear that both purpose-guided heroism and heroism-guided purpose elevated Schindler to heroic status.

PersonalityTraits:“TheGreatEight”

In their research on heroism, Allison and Goethals discovered eight charac-ter traits that typically come to mind when people think of the prototypical hero (Allison & Goethals, 2011). The authors collected a multitude of opinions about the traits of heroes, and then systematically narrowed them down to pro-duce “The Great Eight” (Allison & Goethals, 2017). These traits include: smart, strong, caring, charismatic, selfless, resilient, reliable, and inspiring. Heroes do not necessarily embody all of these traits, but they must have some, because they are what people consistently think of when they identify a hero (Allison & Goethals, 2011).

Oskar Schindler possessed some of these traits even before his heroic transfor-mation. Because of his experience as a salesman, in the black market, and in interactions with many different kinds of people in the social hierarchy, it is clear that Schindler was a very smart and savvy man. He was able to deceive people to get what he wanted with his charismatic nature. During the tough period of time when the family business went bankrupt, his father left his mother, and his mother passed (Wundheiler, 1986), Schindler was forced to remain strong and resilient in order to keep himself and his family going.

444

After Schindler’s calling and transformation to heroism, he gained many more of these “Great Eight” traits. He kept his trait of being smart, as he was intelli-gent enough to outmaneuver the Nazis, with the help of his extreme charisma. These traits allowed him to get out of any situation, and what helped him con-vince German leaders during the war to give him the permissions necessary to carry out his secret operation. The suffering he went through from the losses he experienced in his family helped him remain strong. Through Schindler’s discovery of his missing quality of compassion not only for people he knew, but for complete strangers, he was able to gain the trait of selflessness. This is shown through his dedication and work by pouring his social status, time, energy, and life’s savings into protecting as many people as he possibly could. This also shows how caring he was about his work and about the people he was saving. He stood up against the Nazi’s Final Solution and did everything in his power to stop it.

Oskar Schindler risked so much for people he did not even know. This deed made him exceptionally inspiring, a trait he gained after becoming a hero. People relied on this man, a complete stranger, to save their lives, some never even meeting him (Jackson, 1988). He not only became a reliable person, but also an incredibly resilient one. There were many situations Schindler had to navigate successfully in order to carry out his goal. There were many bumps in the road for Schindler and “his Jews,” but with his newfound resilience, he was able to push through and bounce back in every circumstance presented. In these ways, it is argued that Oskar Schindler, after his heroic transition, actu-ally embodied all eight of the “Great Eight” traits (Allison & Goethals, 2011).

cOncluSiOn

The awe-inspiring heroic work of Oskar Schindler during the Holocaust is one of great significance when discussing a hero’s journey. His life experiences lead-ing up to the war compelled him to feel the need to answer his call to heroism. If he had ignored this summoning, imagine the repercussions; over one thou-sand additional innocent people would have died in the deadly concentration camps. The impact Oskar Schindler has made on history because of his heroism is one that will be remembered forever. We end with a very telling quote from Oskar Schindler himself that features the essence of heroism in its simplest

445

form. “If you were to cross the street, and there was a dog in danger of being run over by a car, wouldn’t you try to help?” (Wundheiler, 1986). Would you?

REfEREncES

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2011). Heroes: What they do and why we need them. New York: Oxford University Press.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2013). Heroic leadership: An influence taxonomy of 100 exceptional individuals. New York: Routledge.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2014). “Now he belongs to the ages”: The heroic leadership dynamic and deep narratives of greatness. In Goethals, G. R., et al. (Eds.), Conceptions of leadership: Enduring ideas and emerging insights. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Allison, S. T., & Goethals, G. R. (2017). The hero's transformation. In S. T. Allison, G. R. Goethals, & R. M. Kramer (Eds.), Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership. New York: Routledge.

Allison, S. T., Goethals, G. R., & Kramer, R. M. (2017). Setting the scene: The rise and coalescence of heroism science. In S. T. Allison, G. R. Goethals, & R. M. Kramer (Eds.), Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership. New York: Routledge.

Bronk, K. C., & Riches B. R. (2017). The Intersection of Purpose and Heroism. In S. T. Allison, G. R. Goethals, & R. M. Kramer (Eds.), Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership. New York: Routledge.

Campbell, J. (1949). The hero with a thousand faces. New York: MJF Books.Crowe, D. M. (2004). Oskar Schindler: the untold account of his life, wartime activities, and the

true story behind the list. Westview Press.Davis, J. L., Burnette, J. L., Allison, S. T., & Stone, H. (2011). Against the odds: Academic

underdogs benefit from incremental theories. Social Psychology of Education, 14, 331-346. Dik, B. J., et al. (2017). Career Development and a Sense of Calling. In S. T. Allison, G. R. Goethals,

& R. M. Kramer (Eds.), Handbook of heroism and heroic leadership. New York: Routledge.Efthimiou, O., Allison, S. T., & Franco, Z. E. (2018). Heroism in the 21st century: Recognising our

personal heroic imperative. In O. Efthimiou, S. T. Allison, & Z. E. Franco (Eds.), Heroism and wellbeing in the 21st Century: Applied and emerging perspectives. New York: Routledge.

Franco, Z. E., Blau, K., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2011, April 11). Heroism: A Conceptual Analysis and Differentiation Between Heroic Action and Altruism. Review of General Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0022672

Goethals, G. R. & Allison, S. T. (2012). Making heroes: The construction of courage, competence and virtue. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 183-235.

Jackson, M. (1988). Oskar Schindler and Moral Theory. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 5(2), 175-182. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24353520

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Oskar Schindler. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005787

Wundheiler, L. (1986). Oskar Schindler’s Moral Development During the Holocaust. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 13(1/2), 333-356. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23262673