Bad People Are Good At Heart

Anne Frank, a Jewish victim of the Holocaust and author of The Diary of a Young Girl, once stated “Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.” Even though people may do bad things, there is still good in people who do those bad things. Many people who may seem bad can also be deemed good at heart by certain acts they commit such as some German soldiers showing mercy to Jewish prisoners by giving them water, food, or not killing them when they do some job incorrectly. This theme of bad people still being good at heart is shown in three different works about the Holocaust: The Book Thief, Schindler’s List, and Night. These works on the Holocaust show the good in some people throughout death, depression, pain, and
much more.
In the novel The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, you read about a young German girl named Liesel Meminger and her foster family during World War II. Liesel and her foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann show the goodness inside of them by taking in Max Vandenburg, a Jewish man who is hiding from the Nazis and being captured, which endangers their whole family. An example of showing goodness towards others is “...Hans Hubermann held his hand out and presented a piece of bread, like magic. When it changed hands, the Jew slid down. He fell to his knees and held Papa’s shins. He buried his face between them and thanked him”(Zusak 394). Hans gave out bread to a Jewish prisoner, in front of the whole town and Nazis soldiers, because he thought it was the right thing to do. Hans knew he was risking both his and his family’s life because he knew that no human should have to endure all the pain and suffering of the Jews. That made him want to do anything in his power to help. Another character in the book named Rudy Steiner, Liesel’s best friend and neighbor, stood up for a boy named Tommy he was with in the Hitler Youth Program. He did this by telling the leader, Franz Deutscher, that the only reason Tommy wasn’t responding or acting quickly was because he had a problem with his hearing in his left ear(Zusak 269-270). Rudy continued to try and explain the problem to Franz, but his attempts only cause him and Tommy to be punished. In times of great fear and pain, Rudy shows himself to be a good person despite being punished for doing so. The novel, The Book Thief, shows greats examples of people who show that they are good despite the dangerous and negative outcomes from the Nazi Party.
The movie Schindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, is about a man named Oskar Schindler who begins a factory to make enamelware for the German war efforts.
Schindler has Jewish people come and work in his factories because at the time he knows he won’t have to pay them. As we get further into the movie, Oskar sees what the Germans are doing to the Jews and his factory becomes a “haven” for more than one thousand Jews instead of them being killed. In a talk about production with his accountant, Itzhak Stern, Schindler says “Stern, if this factory ever produces a shell that can actually be fired, I’ll be very unhappy.” Although Schindler’s main purpose was to benefit the war and help the German cause, he didn't want to seem to aid their war efforts after seeing what the Germans are doing to the Jews. After the surrender of the Germans, the horrific World War II coming to an end, and Schindler’s moving speech to the Jewish workers and soldiers, it was time for him Oskar Schindler to flee. As he was saying his goodbyes to the Jews, one Jewish man came to him and handed him a gold ring as a token of their appreciation. Schindler looks at the ring and realizes he could’ve saved more Jews. “I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don’t know. If I’d just… I could have got more.” Oskar ended up regretting his selfish spending of his fortune because in the end, looking at the more than a thousand Jews around him, he realized that he could’ve saved so many more Jewish prisoners. Throughout all the evil of the Holocaust, some people including Schindler proved they were good inside by helping
others(Spielberg). The book Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a true told story of Elie being a young Jewish boy who experiences the horrors of concentration camps with his father Shlomo Wiesel. After entering the concentration camp Auschwitz, a prisoner gave advice to Elie and his father(Wiesel 28). The prisoner told Elie and his father that they were eighteen and forty instead of barely fifteen and fifty. He told them this so that the father and son could stay together and not be separated. Most people in the concentration camps were thought to only think of themselves, but prisoners like this man decide to help keep families they saw together even in a setting full of bad things. Later in the story, Elie gets beat up by a man in the camps. “I ached all over. I felt a cool hand wiping my blood-stained forehead. It was the French girl. She gave me her mournful smile and slipped a bit of bread into my hand”(Wiesel 50-51). Elie recalls the French girl helping him out after he was nearly beaten to death. She helps Elie when he is at a very low point and gives him bread instead of just eating it herself. In the novel Night, Elie receives help from people he wouldn’t expect to get help from. Through all of the horror, death, pain, and terrible circumstances, some people in the concentration camps are still kind enough to help out those that they can. While some people’s actions support Anne Frank’s statement about people being good at heart, some people’s actions do not. Some people acted in an evil way because they felt threatened or were threatened if they did not do what they were told. In concentration camps, some German soldiers probably knew it was wrong that they were killing the Jews, but they did so out of fear of their superior. Most guards/soldiers have greatly regretted the acts they committed and were ordered to do. One soldier from the film Schindler’s List named Amon Goeth was very ruthless when it came to handling the Jews. However, he did have a Jewish maid that he wound up caring for and when the he was going to move locations he wanted to take her with him but Goeth knew he couldn’t. These feelings, along with Oskar Schindler persuading him to show mercy on the Jews in a persuasive way, caused Goeth to show mercy on some of the Jews he encountered instead of being brutal and a murderer. Even though there are some examples that go against Anne’s statement, these moments are usually regretted and make people show remorse. In conclusion, these three works, The Book Thief, Schindler’s List, and Night, have proved Anne Frank’s statement that some people are really good at heart. Characters from these three works have shown that good can prevail through even the smallest of acts during bad times. Despite the consequences they could receive such as death, people have shown the courage to do the good thing and help others.