The director thinks students should see his Oscar-winning movie so that they can understand more the effect of the Holocaust.

• Apr 30, 2018

AceShowbiz - Oscar-winning movie "Schindler's List" should be taught in high schools, according to the director Steven Spielberg. The moviemaker reunited with the cast of the movie at last week's Tribeca Film Festival for a special screening to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1993 drama, based on the story of industrialist Oskar Schindler, who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Nazis by employing them in his factories during the Second World War.

When quizzed at a Q&A following the event about the film's current political relevance in the U.S, amid the rise of neo-Nazis and white supremacists, Spielberg demanded more to be done to teach children about the Holocaust. More than six million Jews were killed by Nazis and their allies from 1941 to 1945, with millions sent to their deaths at concentration camps across Europe.

Discussing a recent survey in the U.S. that uncovered a disturbing lack of knowledge about the Holocaust among millennials, Spielberg said, "It (film) should be part of the social science, social studies curriculum in every public high school in this country."

He went on to suggest that his film, among others, should be shown to pupils, as "these stories that Holocaust survivors have the courage to tell" should be on the curriculum.

Spielberg, who admitted he was worried when making the film that nobody would believe the horrifying events, later recalled a particular traumatic experience he had while shooting scenes at concentration camps.

Two Israeli actors had breakdowns after they filmed a scene, in which they had to strip down and shower together, with many other extras, while cramped in a small room, afraid they'll be gassed.

"There was trauma everywhere, and we captured that trauma; you can't fake that," he explained. "(The scene) where everyone takes off their clothes was probably the most traumatic day of my entire career, having to see what it meant to strip down to nothing and then completely imagine this could be your last day on earth."

Liam Neeson, who said he felt "unworthy" as Oskar Schindler in the film, also revealed a heart-wrenching moment he had on set. While filming a scene near the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Holocaust survivor and the movie's producer Branko Lustig told the Northern Irish actor, "See that hut there? That was the hut I was in."

"It hit me, big f**king time," the 65-year-old said, before telling the audience he was shaking so much afterwards he couldn't deliver his lines.