Teaching Schindler’s List: Fact, Fiction and Film in Remembering the Holocaust Student Edition Based on a book, Holocaust as Horror by: Caroline (Kay) Picart, Florida State David Frank, U. of Oregon Shortened versions have been published with The Horror Film (Rutgers UP, 2003) and Film and History.

Schindler’s List’s “Realism” How “real” does Schindler’s List seem? Why does it “look” so real?

Answers: 1._______________________________________________________________________________________________. 2._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

The Bilderverbot Can you think of any objections on moral or aesthetic grounds to how Schindler’s List visualized the Holocaust?              

Answer: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Key Question Who is the “monster” in Schindler’s List? What makes this character monstrous?

Answers: Character:_______________________ Why is this character monstrous? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Two Key Scenes: Describe them briefly, both in terms of content and form. The shower scene at Auschwitz The seduction-turned-torture of Helen Hirsch by Amon Goeth

The Shower Scene in SL Whose gaze do we share? How do we know this?

Answer: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Schindler’s List and Psycho Can you see any similarities between the shower scene in Psycho and the one in Schindler’s List?

Answers: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Key Question Which two stereotypes are illustrated particularly in the scene where Goeth hovers around Helen Hirsch?

Answer: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Law and Crime How are law and crime depicted in Schindler’s List? What cinematic conventions are used to code the “good German” (Schindler) vs. the “bad German” (Goeth)?

Answers: 1._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. 2._______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________.

Discussion Questions Compare Schindler’s List’s holocaust narrative with Shoah. Do the comparisons both in terms of content and film form. Choose one scene from each film to back up your comparison. Comment on how Spielberg and Kingsley interact re. representing the Holocaust in Survivors of the Holocaust (Steven Spielberg and Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation).

Answers: 1._______________________________________________________________________________________________. 2._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.