Stephen Bryan

Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
UWRT 1102-013
1st Feb 2015
Inquiry Proposal
The topic of research Im inquiring into is the life and legacy of Oskar Schindler. What I
want to do with my inquiry proposal is to look deeper into Schindlers life. I want to know how
Schindler became a righteous gentile in the eyes of the Jewish people but at the same time stayed
a member of the Nazi party. What I currently know about Oskar Schindler is all information from
the 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg known as Schindlers List, and an article called Oskar
Schindlers Moral Development by Luitgard N. Wundheiler. To further my knowledge my
purpose for this inquiry proposal is to inform myself and others about the untold history of Oskar
Schindlers life choices, and how they would in turn save the lives of many Jewish people.
The first time I learned of any holocaust stories, legends, or famous persons was in 9th
grade global history class. What I learned in this class sparked my interest in Oskar Schindlers
life way before I knew I would ever get the chance to do any sort of research on the man
academically. In this class my teacher gave a vague overview of the holocaust that every student
was given who went through high school history. Although there was a bright side to this dreary
overview of histories darkest time, and that was the movie on Oskar Schindler, the savior of the
Jews. The movie was boring at first. No one wanted to watch a culture be eradicated just because
they were not seen as the optimal race to inhabit this world, so I didnt pay much attention.
Although as the movie went on it became more about saving people than killing them, and that

peeked my interest. Ive always been interested in helping others and the things that Schindler
did to save those people was astounding. By the end of Schindlers deeds he saved around 1200
Jewish peoples lives and spent around four million of his own German marks to save them. It is
not every day that someone gives away most of their lifes fortune to help those who are in need
for no self/personal gain, and it was once Id seen that movie I knew I wanted to know more
about Oskar Schindler.
Oskar Schindler was known from two different perspectives. One perspective of the man
was as a member of the Nazi party, and the other was as a kind man who helped save many of
the Jews. Both are important parts of his legacy, but the question people seem to keep asking
about the man is, why? Why would he risk his own life and spend millions of his own dollars to
save the Schindler Jews? Why would he join the Nazi party just to defy them later on down the
road? When looking back into his childhood, information is revealed that he grew up in a very
religious catholic home and his closest neighbor was a Jewish family with two young boys that
were said to be Schindlers closest friends growing up. It is possible that because schindlers two
closest friends were of the religion that was deemed to be impure and to be eradicated that he
took pity on them. Although later on in his life Schindler got married, and in doing so led only to
distraught in an upsetting marriage where Schindler bore two illegitimate children. Next to come
was the loss of schindlers parents from the bad blood between him and his father to the death of
his mother. This enraged Oskar to the point where he and his father lost all contact and in a short
time he lost both his parents. After all of his family troubles Schindler joined the Nazi party as a
salesman. With this information you could speculate that schindler joined the Nazi party for

opportunity and patriotism now that he no longer had any ties to a home life or family. Either
way I want to inquire deeper into his life to find out the true reasoning behind what he did from
the personal reflections of his friends and those who lived close to him.
With the knowledge I have and the knowledge I will come to learn of I will inquire
deeper into Oskar Schindlers life and legacy. I will solve all of my curiosities into Schindlers
life including: his upbringing that shaped his adulthood, his reasons for joining the Nazi party,
and his reasons for saving the Jews he did. I have found Oskar Schindler interesting since the 9th
grade and admire what he did. I too one day wish to save/help those who are in need some day
on a scale not so big as Oskar Schindler but big enough to make a difference. With this
opportunity to inquire into his life I look forward to learning more about one of my oldest role
models and the great life that he lived.