OSKAR SCHINDLER
G'day folks,
No doubt you have heard of this man. Oskar Schindler was a German
industrialist during World War II who sheltered approximately 1,100 Jews from
the Nazis by employing them in his factories.
Synopsis
Oskar
Schindler was born into a German Catholic family on April 28, 1908. After
attending trade schools, he worked for his father’s farm machinery company. He
worked for German intelligence and later joined the Nazi Party. An opportunist
businessman with a taste for the finer things in life, he seemed an unlikely
candidate to become a wartime hero. During the war, however, he operated a
factory that employed more than 1,000 Polish Jews, saving them from
concentration camps and extermination. In 1993 his story was made into the
Steven Spielberg feature film Schindler's List.
Early Years
Oskar
Schindler was born April 28, 1908, in the city of Svitavy [Zwittau], in
the Sudetenland, now part of the Czech Republic. The eldest of two children,
Oskar’s father, Hans Schindler, was a farm-equipment manufacturer, his mother,
Louisa, was a homemaker. Oscar and his sister, Elfriede, attended a
German-language school where he was popular, though not an exceptional student.
Forgoing the opportunity to attend college, he went to trade school instead,
taking courses in several areas.
Oskar
Schindler left school in 1924, taking odd jobs and trying to find a direction
in life. In 1928, he met and married Emilie Pelzl and soon after was called
into military service. Afterward, he worked for his father’s company until the
business failed in the economic depression of the 1930s. When not working,
Schindler excelled at drinking and philandering, a lifestyle he would maintain
throughout much of his life.
From Spy to Black Market Entrepreneur
In the
1930s, the political landscape of Europe changed dramatically with the
rise Adolf Hitler and the
German Nazi Party. Sensing the shift in political momentum, Schindler joined a
local pro-Nazi organization and began collecting intelligence for the German
military. He was arrested by Czech authorities in 1938, charged with spying and
sentenced to death but was released shortly thereafter, when Germany annexed
the Sudetenland. Schindler would take advantage of this second chance.
In
September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II. Schindler left
his wife and traveled to Krakow, hoping to profit from the impending war.
Looking for business opportunities, he quickly became involved in the black
market. By October, Schindler used his charm and doled out “gifts of gratitude”
(contraband goods) to bribe high-ranking German officers. Wanting to expand his
business interests, Schindler obtained a former Jewish enamelware factory to
produce goods for the German military.
The Enamelware Factory
Oskar
Schindler renamed the factory Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik (German Enamelware
Factory) and started production with a small staff. Possessing a certain
panache for business and engaging in influence peddling, Schindler secured
numerous German army contracts for kitchenware. He soon met Itzhak Stern, a
Jewish accountant, who connected Schindler with Krakow’s Jewish community to
staff the factory.
Starting
out with 45 employees, the company grew to more than 1,700 at its peak in 1944.
Initially, Schindler hired Jewish workers because they were a less expensive
Polish workforce. But as Nazi atrocities against the Jewish community
increased, Schindler’s attitude changed. With the help of Stern, he found
reasons to hire more Jewish workers, regardless of their abilities. By 1942,
nearly half of his employees were Jewish and were known as Schindlerjuden
(Schindler Jews). When the Nazis began to relocate Krakow’s Jews to labor
camps, Itzhak Stern and several hundred other employees were among them. Schindler
raced to the train station and confronted an SS officer, arguing that his
workers were essential to the war effort. After several tense minutes of
dropping names and making veiled threats, Schindler was able to free his
workers and escort them back to the factory.
Schindler’s Life-Saving List
In early
1943, the Nazis implemented the liquidation of the Krakow Jewish population and
opened up the Plaszow work camp, run by the notoriously sadistic commandant,
Amon Göth. Schindler cultivated a relationship with Göth, and whenever any of
his workers were threatened with deportation to a concentration camp or
execution, Schindler managed to provide a black-market gift or bribe to save
their lives.
In 1944,
Plaszow transitioned from a labor camp to a concentration camp and all Jews
were to be sent to the death camp at Auschwitz. Schindler requested Göth allow
him to relocate his factory to Brnĕnec, in the Sudetenland, and produce war
goods. He was told to draw up a list of workers he wanted to take with him. With
Stern’s help, Schindler created a list of 1,100 Jewish names he deemed
“essential” for the new factory. Permission was granted and the factory was
moved.
Not wanting to contribute to the German war effort, Schindler ordered
his workers to purposefully make defective products that would fail inspection.
The employees spent the remaining months of the war in the factory.
Clancy's comment: An interesting man during awful times. Well done, Oskar.
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