Ultraviolence | Amon Goeth

Acknowledgments

This is a fanfiction based on the movie Schindler's list (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg, as well as the book Schindler's ark (1982) written by Thomas Keneally. It has nothing to do with the real Amon Göth, the character played by Ralph Fiennes, is based on. In the movie we get the impression that Goeth is an impulsive, cruel man who doesn't blink before he pulls the trigger. He is by all means a horrible person and it is not my intention with this story to glorify him in any way.

There are some great differences from the real historical person that Fiennes' character is based on and how he is portrayed in the movie. In the movie the fact that he is attracted to his Jewish maid despite all of his antisemitism creates a sort of conflict within him to the point where he actually questions if what they are doing is actually good in spite of all his conviction. This is completely fictional, the two jewish maids that actually worked at the Plaszów camp confirmed the real historical Göth had no sexual or romantic attraction towards any of them. One of the maids stated that his hatred for Jews was too deep for him to actually view them as human beings.

Also, in my understanding the real Göth had two maids, and the Helen Hirsch we see in the movie wasn't entirely based on any of them.

The whole idea that the Commandant would be attracted to his jewish maid, Helen Hirsch is something that appears first in Keneally's book Schindler's ark, though Spielberg took it a whole step further when he made Schindler's list where Goeth's attraction is much more perceptible. In the movie Goeth is seen to attempt to flirt with her which only results in him abusing her because of his own conflicted feelings. Later in the movie he at first refuses to allow Schindler to write Helen's name down on his list because he couldn't bear to let go of her. He then says that the most merciful thing he can do is shoot her in the back of the head, which also reveals a lot about his sense of mercy.

Amon Goeth in the movie is a horrible, yet complex character. In one scene he can appear to be quite charming with a bright smile, especially in his friendship with Oskar Schindler and in the next be seen committing horrible acts just because he can. He is completely cruel and lacking all compassion, killing just because he can. It seems that he is very much driven by emotions, which creates an impulsive, unstable character that can act rather unpredictably.

He's quick to draw solutions, he can be polite when he intends to but also rude and reckless. In real life, Amon Göth was diagnosed with some kind of mental illness, and parts of this can be found in the character as well.

When I decided to wrote this fanfiction, I thought it was interesting how such a cruel character could fall in love with a person that he holds so much resentment towards and how he then is seen dealing with it. It is very much a character study, as well as an exploration of fear and abuse and how Helen in that situation possibly could have reacted. She is very much a passive character in the movie, just finding ways for her to speak her mind in a way that would stay more or less loyal to her character has been a struggle.

I am not idolizing the nazi ideology or any nazi, nor the real Amon Göth, who was a dreadful person who deserved the punishment that he got. To make that clear I've fictionalized the characters even more, and tried to separate them from the historical people they are based on. I mean no disrespect to the real survivors of Schindler's workers, or to the real maids of Amon Göth. So to confirm it once again, this is a story about the fictionalized Amon Goeth from the movie, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, not the real person. I do not support nazism, and hope that this work doesn't contribute to normalizing or justifying it.

This fanfiction has caused me to think a lot about how we portray nazis in fiction and pop culture, and I think it's interesting as to why Spielberg casted Ralph Fiennes as the role as the main antagonist and Camp Commandant and also why both Keneally and Spielberg empathized that Goeth was attracted to his maid. I suppose it was to add another dimension to the character, but it's still interesting when it is something that has no correspondence with how it would have been historically.

(This fan fiction contains violence, murder and rape. So if you're sensitive towards any of those subjects I recommend you not to read this.)

Please have in mind that this is a story I've worked on for a very long time, therefore the quality of the writing may vary.