Schindler's List Questions

Bring on the tough stuff. There’s not just one right answer.

  • Why Does Oskar Schindler come to Poland? Does that make him any better than the conquering Germans?
  • How do the Jews find ways of surviving their imminent doom? In what ways are they shown as powerless against it?
  • What does it say that the Nazis seem so ordinary in this movie, instead of monomaniacal supervillains that we see in other movies?
  • Why does Spielberg shoot most of the movie in black and white? What's significant about the few times it does use color?
  • How do the Nazis talk about their plans? What does that say about the evil they represent?
  • Do you think Amon Goeth is psychotic?
  • Why does Steven Spielberg show us the real-life people portrayed in the film at the end? What kind of significance does that gesture hold?
  • How do the Jews express their faith in the face of the horror around them? What's the benefit of such gestures?
  • Some people have accused Spielberg of turning the Holocaust into melodrama. What do you think?