Holocaust in Hollywood Movies

Hollywood is notorious for creating films based on true stories, but the end result elaborates the truth or adds details for entertainment to increase interest. Schindler's List is no different. Many historical movies have had love interests or love story base line to appeal to more audiences therefore increasing revenue. Spielberg not only adds to the movie but chooses to leave out historical information to retell easier. Schindler's List is based on the book written by Thomas Keneally which has been categorized as fiction; from this book a screen play was written by Steven Zaillian and attempts to say it was written based on accurate information. Based on this information the movie was marketed as based on a true story. Most of the characters names and city names were correct in the movie even the name of the factory and camps were correct. But the majority of the rest of the movie was created or misrepresented for entertainment purposes. Spielberg also blurs the line between fact and fiction by referring to factual matters in a fictional way (Journal of Historical review). Schindler's List has won many awards and Spielberg has used this to establish himself as the Holocaust expert yet the more information others learn questions arise that this movie nor Spielberg can answer.

The films very first event didn't take place in real life. As film starts with a dinner exchange between Schindler and a crew of Nazi commanders. This interaction of Schindler meeting the Nazi commanders would have not taken place unless it was a planned event, because he had already known them from his previous line of work. Another thing that Hollywood added was the scene where Schindler was watching the homes of the Jewish people in the ghetto get demolished, while riding a horse on the top of a hill. Realistically Schindler's factory was mostly operated by the Polish, while the Hollywood movie showcases the work environment being strictly Jewish. The movie also shows Oskar Schindler Listing out the name of his workers he was trying to save, making it seem as though he personally knew each and every one of his workers. Which was in fact quite the opposite because according to his wife he only knew a handful of his workers by name and even then, it was only because they had visited him often.

Oskar Schindler's wife, Emilie was almost cut out of the film altogether despite her important role in real life. She kept all the workers in the factory healthy by providing them food. The movie did portray Oskar and Emilie's relationship correctly. He was married to Emilie at age 19, but never without a mistress or two.

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