What is there to say? So much, and not enough.

This (slightly) fictionalized account of Oskar Schindler and how he saved over 1,000 Jews from the Nazi slaughter is compelling and heavy. It explores the complexity of human nature vividly in a way that invites questions. What makes someone really good? Or really evil? What might tip the scale in any given human heart towards one or the other?

A man like him might very well find himself cancelled in 2025 for his participation in the system, regardless of the lives he saved by manipulating that system. Schindler's story flies in the face of black and white, moralistic thinking. As does any really human story, if we dig deep enough. 

There are very few truly evil people, and only One who has ever been really Good. Schindler's List invites us to examine ourselves, step back from mainstream rhetoric, and open our eyes to one another. To let go of the Us vs. Them false dichotomy.

This book was incredibly difficult to read, and I am so, so glad I did. I highly recommend it, across the board. Just be aware that it is unflinching in its description of the atrocities that took place in the Holocaust.

Stories change hearts and minds. This is why we read.