FREE ESSAY ON ANGELS OF LIFE AND DEATH

ANGELS OF LIFE AND DEATH

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.
Bibliography
Works Cited
1. Bulow, Louis. Mengele. [Online] Available http://home8.inet.tele.dk/aaaa/
Mengele.htm, 19 February 2000. 
2. Bulow, Louis. Schindler. [Online] Available http://home8.inet.tele.dk/aaaa/
Shindler2.htm, 19 February 2000.
3. Chandler, Gloria. Never Shall I Forget That Night: Survivors Remember the Holocaust.
4. Erstein, Hap. "Nazis took away everything but her soul." The Palm Beach Post
17 February 1999: 1D and 4D.
5. "Holocaust," Microsoft Encarta. Funk and Wagnall's Corporation, 1994.
6. The Last Days. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Survivors of the SHOAH visual history
foundation, 1998.
7. Zisblatt, Irene. Lecture. 3 March 2000.