OSKAR SCHINDLER
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Oskar Schindler is one of the most famous individuals from the time period of the Holocaust. He is credited with saving over 1,200 Jewish people from the Nazi gas chambers and was celebrated in the 1993 movie Schindler’s List. Born on April 28th, 1908 in Austria-Hungary, Schindler did a range of jobs throughout his early life until finally working as a spy for the Nazis in the years before World War II. Although he was a citizen of Czechoslovakia, Schindler began supplying the Abwehr, which was the Nazi intelligence service, with information in 1936. He provided Germany with information on Czechoslovakian military movements, and railways stations ahead of a planned German invasion of the country. Adolf Hitler eventually gained control over the country following the Munich Conference and Germany’s invasion in 1938. Schindler became a member of the Nazi Party in 1939 and continued to complete work for the Abwehr until 1940 when he sifted his focus to business.
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Oskar Schindler
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Following Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939, Schindler moved to the city of Krakow, Poland. There he acquired a previously Jewish-run enamelware business and renamed it the German Enamelware Factory (DEF). His connections with the Nazis allowed him to gain contracts to produce cookware for German soldiers while on the front lines of World War II. Initially he was concerned with making as much money for himself as possible. For example, he hired Jewish workers in his factory because he could pay them less then Polish workers. However, as the events of the Holocaust progressed, Schindler ended up using his vast wealth to shelter and protect his workers from the atrocities of the death camps. In fact, while he had amassed a small fortune at the start of the Holocaust, but was essentially broke by the end.
In order to protect his workers Schindler often bribed Nazi officials with alcohol, cash, and luxury gifts. While tens of thousands of Jewish people were moved from the Krakow Ghetto to nearby camps, in the early 1940s, Schindler was able to protect his Jewish workers. He claimed that his workers, even children, were necessary to the production of his goods, which were ultimately aimed at assisting the Nazi war effort. As a result, local Nazi officials allowed him to keep his workers in relative safety. For example, in March of 1943, when the Płaszów concentration camp opened near Schindler’s factory, and Jewish workers from the area were moved to the camp, he convinced the head of the camp to have his workers protected. The Płaszów camp was headed by Amon Göth, an SS officer who was known for his intense brutality. For instance, Göth would often shoot the prisoners of the camp randomly, causing a constant sense of fear for the inmates.
Płaszów Concentration Camp
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Amon Göth's Mugshot (1945)
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By 1944, the Nazis were losing ground to the Allied powers and were forced to close many of their labor camps. Using bribes and his influence, Schindler convinced Göth to allow him to move his Jewish workers to Brünnlitz in the Sudetenland, which is a section of Czechoslovakia that Germany was given as part of the Munich Conference. This action by Schindler proved to be important for his workers, because if he had not had them relocated they would have been killed in the gas chambers, which is what happened to many other Jewish workers in the area. It was at this point that the list of 1,200 names of Jewish workers was famously created.
In Brünnlitz, Schindler changed his manufacturing from enamelware products to artillery shells, because the Nazis had ordered the closure of all non-essential manufacturing. However, the new factory struggled to produce useful artillery shells, and when questioned by SS officials, Schindler bought artillery shells on the black market in order to supply them to the Nazis. As well, because the SS did not provide enough food and other resources to guarantee the survival of his workers, Schindler often used his contacts in the black market to buy these goods so that his workers did not suffer. Therefore, Schindler spent much of his time and money in Brünnlitz, securing operational artillery shells or food and other items for his workers. For the remainder of the war he continued to bribe SS officials in order to save his workers from execution. When World War II ended in Europe in May 1945, he had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his workers.
In Brünnlitz, Schindler changed his manufacturing from enamelware products to artillery shells, because the Nazis had ordered the closure of all non-essential manufacturing. However, the new factory struggled to produce useful artillery shells, and when questioned by SS officials, Schindler bought artillery shells on the black market in order to supply them to the Nazis. As well, because the SS did not provide enough food and other resources to guarantee the survival of his workers, Schindler often used his contacts in the black market to buy these goods so that his workers did not suffer. Therefore, Schindler spent much of his time and money in Brünnlitz, securing operational artillery shells or food and other items for his workers. For the remainder of the war he continued to bribe SS officials in order to save his workers from execution. When World War II ended in Europe in May 1945, he had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his workers.
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Since Schindler was a member of the Nazi Party, he fled at the end of the war, fearing capture by Soviet forces. Before fleeing, several of his workers prepared a letter which he could present to the Allies to prove his role in saving their lives. As well, the workers presented him a ring, made from gold taken from one of the worker’s dental work, which was inscribed with “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” After fleeing the area, Schindler and his wife headed west in an attempt to be captured by the Americans and avoid Soviet forces. At the end of the war, Schindler was broke, having spent his fortune on protecting and providing for his workers. As a result, he struggled financially in the post-war years and often had to rely on assistance from Jewish organizations and later the Jewish workers that he protected during the Holocaust. He failed at several businesses in both Germany and Argentina, where he moved to in the 1949.
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Schindler's Grave
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Schindler died on October 9th, 1974 and was buried in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. He was the only member of the Nazi Party to be honored in this way. He was further honored, in 1963, when he was named Righteous Among the Nations. This is an award from the State of Israel on non-Jews who played a role in helping and protecting Jewish people during the events of the Holocaust.
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