Angels Of Life And Death Essay, Research Paper

Angels of Life and Death

“I hated the brutality, the sadism, and the insanity of Nazism. I just couldn’t stand by and see people destroyed. I did what I could, what I had to do, what my conscience told me I must do. That’s all there is to it. Really, nothing more” (Bulow 9). These are the words of the ?Angel of Life? in the Holocaust, Oskar Schindler. However, the life and light that was inside this man was not in the hearts of all European people between 1933 and 1945. Coinciding with this wonderful figure is one of the most brutal men in all of history who came to be known by many, including the Nazis, as the “Angel of Death.” This man, Josef Mengele, was responsible for the unmerciful killing of a large portion of the total of eleven million Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and other minorities who were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the Holocaust (Bulow 5). Mengele worked under the rule of Adolf Hitler who was the leader of the Nazi party. Hitler and his Nazi regime were in search of the “Final Solution”?their goal was to accomplish the complete destruction of the Jews (Chandler 35). Although the outlandish and wicked goal was not accomplished, the ?Angel of Death? did manage to leave his impression on the lives of an enormous number of people. A true angel, Oskar Schindler, battled this mark of hellish discrimination. Schindler risked his own life and money in order to aid 1,200 Jews to safety during the reign of the devilish Hitler. Thanks to massive bribery and his inside connections, he managed to actively protect ?his employees.” Two different ?angels? thrust into the same time period in history?each man would be remembered for his part in this brutal massacre of innocent people. Oskar Schindler, the ?Angel of Life? who was born into a prosperous family, dealt with bankruptcy multiple times in his life, worked for the cause of 1,200 Jews, and was rewarded with a tree on the Avenue of the Righteous. The ?Angel of Death,? Josef Mengele, was popular in his town, graduated from a prestigious German college, worked under Adolf Hitler on many devilish procedures, and lived in seclusion and under a false identity in an unknown country. Schindler and Mengele, ?Angels of Life and Death,? are two men forever linked to the history of the Holocaust. Today, there are men and women who survived the Holocaust because of one man?s intervention, and there are men and women who survived in spite of another man?s atrocities. Irene Zisblatt was born into a wealthy Hungarian family and survived the Holocaust only because she was willing to endure the inhumane testing that the ?Angel of Death? performed on Jews (Zisblatt). Helen Beck was a Polish woman who was put in the Plaszow concentration camp and survived due to the ?Angel of Light? (Chandler 38).

Born into a resort town called Polena in the Carpathian Mountains of what was then part of Hungary, Irene Zisblatt felt that an Angel was eternally with her (Chandler 67). She was never afraid to be alone. According to her, she lived a life that was meaningful and she was forever happy in her hometown. However, the first moment that a Nazi stepped into her home in 1944, that Angel and her happiness was stripped away from her and was not returned to her until the SHOAH foundation came to her in 1994 (Zisblatt). Shortly after that moment in 1944, she was stripped of all of her possessions, except her soul and four little diamonds that her mother sewed into the seam of her dress. Today, these diamonds symbolize all of her memories of her mother, and she plans to pass them on to her first born daughter who will in turn pass it on to her first daughter and so on to all future generations (Chandler 69). In an interview with Palm Beach Post reporter Hap Erstein, Zisblatt said:

?I felt that there was something they wanted form us. They already took my family, they already took my freedom, they already branded me with a number and took my name away. So there was something they needed in order to kill us. I figured the only thing that?s left is my soul and they are not going to take that? (D4).

Soon after the ?Angel? and her earthly possessions were robbed from her, she was taken to a concentration camp were Dr. Josef Mengele decided who lived or died. It was here that her mother went to the right with her siblings, and Irene went to the left. Every morning, roll call was taken from the barracks and Irene was sometimes chosen to partake in an outlandish experiment that was performed by Dr. Mengele. Because of the ?Angel of Death,? Irene was forced to stay in shape and always be healthy. She mentioned that she had no choice but to ?Look good, Feel good, or Die!? Mengele performed experiments on Zisblatt and many other non-Aryans that were as simple (yet inhumane) as inserting chemicals in the daily rations to sterilize the women to as intense and barbaric as injecting viruses into them and cutting tattoos out of their arms. Through all the ?Angel of Death?s? atrocities, Zisblatt survived only through the hope that her mother?s diamonds instilled in her (Zisblatt). Zisblatt?s endurance from the atrocious methods of Dr. Mengele was one of only a few. This ?Angel of Death? had a tremendous impact on the rest of Mrs. Zisblatt?s life and she describes her survival with words that are important to many Jews at Passover time, ?The Angel passed me by.?

True, an angel did pass Irene Zisblatt by, but another type of angel took the opposite route in his dealings with Jewish people during the Holocaust. This man, Oskar Shindler, helped aid Helen Beck from the Plaszow ghetto and the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp (Chandler 38). Through his work in his enamel goods factory, Shindler aided close to 1,200 Jewish people to freedom, including Helen Beck, a young Polish woman. Helen was moved to Shindler?s factory in March of 1943 where she immediately was put on the work staff. Unlike the concentration camp that she had previously lived in, she described Shindler?s factory as incomparable to Aushwitz-Birkenau. Shindler?s factory contained exponentially better conditions than the concentration camp on account of larger barracks, superior sanitary conditions, and larger food rations (Chandler 38-39).

Although Helen Beck never directly spoke with Oskar Schindler, his quiet voice saying, ?Just keep working? always renewed her faith that he was a man who cared, one who had compassion. Seeing Schindler and his overlooking smile was the most important aspect to the lives of his workers (Chandler 39). When he walked by Helen in the factory, it was like an ?Angel? had been at work. Although historians and scholars did not give Oskar Shindler the title of ?Angel of Life,? Helen Beck and many other people that survived due to his ?List? consider him an ?angel? for his civilly disobedient work.

Sixty years after the war has ended, the imprint of the Angels of Life and Death are still among us. Helen Beck survived through liberation and described it, along with the mere fact that she was alive, as a miracle. Irene Zisblatt was silent about her story of the Holocaust until six years ago when the SHOAH foundation came to her. After becoming involved with the SHOAH foundation, Irene Zisblatt commented that she was denied the pleasure of life until she started speaking. The diamonds that she had from her mother are now hanging around her neck in the shape of a teardrop. While reading the Torah, a Jew would come across a saying that they were the chosen people. When this was brought up to Mrs. Zisblatt, she quickly responded with the comment, ?Chosen for what?!?!? Although an angel has touched both of these survivors? lives, they have been saved due to man man?s atrocities and another man?s intervention. In the case of Irene Zisblatt, her mother and her diamonds will live everlastingly. Unfortunately, these amazing people will not be around forever, but luckily, their stories will be passed on to teach the future generations about the horrors of racial discrimination.

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