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Schindlers List

Steven Spielberg and Facing History
Bring Schindler's List to the Nation's Schools
from the Facing History & Ourselves Newsletter

Schindler's List, the award winning film directed by Steven Spielberg, is becoming a significant teaching tool in high schools across the nation. Spielberg himself explained why in the Foreword to the study guide Facing History prepared through a grant from his production company, Amblin Entertainment, and Universal Films. He wrote:
There are far too many places where hate, intolerance, and genocide still exist. Thus Schindler's List is no less a "Jewish story" or a "German story" than it is a human story. And its subject matter applies to every nation. Schindler's List is simply about racial hatred--which is the state of mind that attacks not what makes us people but what makes us different from each other. It is my hope that Schindler's List will awaken and sustain an awareness of such evil and inspire this generation and future generations to seek an end to racial hatred. Facing History and Ourselves developed a study guide to inform that journey by helping students make essential connections between the past and the present.
Over one million students have already seen the film in theaters and many more will have the opportunity to view it on video. Amblin Entertainment and Universal Films are offering every high school principal in the nation a copy of the video and the study guide Facing History and Ourselves has developed to accompany the film. A copy of the guide will also go to all middle schools and junior high schools. In Illinois, Spielberg's staff and Facing History are working with the governor's office to provide staff development for interested teachers. The in-service training model developed there can be replicated in other states.
Many educators who have seen the film with their classes have been profoundly impressed with the way their students responded. As they have already discovered, the film teaches a...