Oskar Schindler was born on April 28, 1908, in Zwittau, Austria-Hungary. At a young age he became a drinker, gambler and womaniser. He was certainly no saint. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Schindler joined the Nazi party to get some economical and political benefits that were associated with being a Nazi. In 1939, Schindler went to the capital of Poland, Krakow, where he was to buy a factory and use cheap Jewish labor from the ghetto to work in his factory.
In the summer of 1942, Schindler witnessed an attack on the Jewish Ghetto by the Germans. The Jews that were still alive were sent to a concentration camp where they would eventually die. Schindler was very moved by this and was resolved to beat the system. Schindler convinced a German general that the concentration camp could be used for war production and Schindler made a list of all the workers needed for his camp.
By the Spring of 1944, the Germans retreated and demanded all camps to be emptied. Schindler bribed and pleaded desperately to save his workers in the knowledge that if they were moved they would be killed. One evening, Schindler received a call from the train station asking if he would accept two carloads of jews that another camp wouldn't accept. Without thinking Schindler accepted the Jews to work in his factory. When the Jews arrived 13 men were dead and 3 other later died, Schindler and his wife Emilie cared for the sick.
At the commencement of WWII, Schindler and his wife testified their life saving actions and received a ring made from Jew's gold filling as a gift from his appreciative workers. The ring was inscribed with the Talmudic verse: "He who saves one life, it is as if he saved the world entire." Schlindler saved approximately 1200 jews.
This is a pretty amazing act of altruism by Schindler and his wife. They sacrificed money, goods and even jewellery to ensure that the these jews were safe. There is plenty of sacrifice for little gain. Or is there? There is no doubt that this far exceeds prosocial behaviour but is it genuine altruism. In the end, Schindler did get recognition for his efforts. Schindler also described these Jews as his own children, thus he may have acted out of personal interest. However, Schindler did feel deep empathy for these Jews and empathy is a great sign of altruism. These are just a few thoughts. Let us know what you think.
Baumeister, R. F. & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature (1st ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
8 comments:
Hi Sam
I don’t think it is so meaningful to firmly distinguish “genuine” altruism from altruism that is not “genuine”. This is because motivation is not a fixed and simple mental aspect, but a changing and complex one.
I wonder if you know the story of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara (1900 – 1986). Sugihara, who was Japanese Consul in Lithuania in 1939 – 1940, saved more than 6,000 Jews by issuing them with visas that allowed them to go to a third country via Japan. Although he was not authorised or permitted by the Japanese government to issue the visas, he took responsibility for doing it in order to save the Jews. (Later, the Japanese Foreign Ministry dismissed him for his actions.) He is well known in Japan as the Japanese Schindler.
There are a lot of web pages about Sugihara, mostly in Japanese, but also in English. For example, Sugihara Chiune homepage (English);
http://www.chiunesugihara100.com/eng/e-top.htm
and Sugihara in Wikipedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara
Perceptions of Sugihara’s behaviour could provide additional depth to a discussion of Schindler’s activities in saving Jews during the war.
Cheers,
Yasuko
Hi Sam
I don't know were I stand on the whole 'genuine' altruism debate. I would like to think that everybody is good deep down and would help people for the sake of helping people rather then for their own interest. But i think that no matter what the reason really is, if somebody helps because they are just really helpful or if somebody helps because they think that that is what society would want them to do still results in help being given. I think that if people start to question in depth why people are helpful and the results are found that people do it for their own reasons then it would take some of the 'hero' aspect away and their would be less people in the world to look up too, also people might then be encouraged to not help as much if they are just going to be viewed as doing it for their own selfish need. So I hope that your research finds that there is such a thing as 'genuine' altruism. :)
Hi Sam,
I think that Schindler's and Sugihara's story demonstrates that there is such a thing as true or genuine altruism. These people went to great lengths to help the Jews despite knowing that their actions could cost them their lives. As James said in the lecture on Prosocial behavior, risking your life to save the life of another is the ultimate act of altruism and that is exactly what Schindler did. Particularly since those he helped were not related to him and we know that people are most likely to help relatives. In a world where there are so many evils and so many evil people, stories of true altruism evoke faith in human nature.
Hi Jaimee and Co.,
I agree. If there is evil surely there must also be good in the world! Whether it's genuine altruism or simply egoism is something only the person wanting to help really knows - deep down in their own heart. I'm not an overly religious person but I do think spirituality, or higher consciousness of some sort, is at play here - and it can't always been explained in a textbook or through scientific evidence.
Cheers
Karen
Hey Yasuko,
thanks for those websites and thanks for everyone's comments
hi. the Iranian ambassador to France have issued Passport to who ever went to Iranian embassy in Paris and let the Jews become Iranian citizens so they can leave France. His Nephew, Fereydon Hoveida was awarded at the museum of tolerance in los angeles, California in Aug 2004. i filmed it and it was very emotional moment.
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