Oskar Schindler
Born	28 April 1908 Svitavy, Austria-Hungary
Died	October 9, 1974 (aged 66) Hildesheim, West Germany
Occupation	Industrialist
Spouse	Emilie Pelzl
Parents	Hans Schindler Franziska Luser

Oskar Schindler (28 April 1908 – 9 October 1974) was a Sudeten German industrialist credited with saving almost 1,200^[1][2] Jews during the Holocaust, by having them work in his enamelware and ammunitions factories located in what is now Poland and the Czech Republic respectively.^[3] He was the subject of the book Schindler's Ark, and the film based on it, Schindler's List.^[4] Oskar Schindler - (from Shoa/fair use) This work is copyrighted. ... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Svitavy (German: Zwittau) is both a city and a district in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ...   is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... Emilie Schindler (October 22, 1907 – October 5, 2001) was a humanitarian who worked together with her husband, Oskar Schindler, to save 1,200 Jews during World War II. Their efforts were the inspiration for the 1982 book Schindlers Ark, and the 1993 movie based on it, Schindlers List... is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... the german inhabitants of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Business magnate. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... In a discussion of art or technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. ... Ammunition, often referred to as ammo, is a generic term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... Schindlers Ark is a Booker Prize winning novel (1982) by Thomas Keneally, which was later adapted into the highly successful movie Schindlers List directed by Steven Spielberg. ... This article is about the movie. ...

Early life

Schindler was born 28 April 1908 in Svitavy (German: Zwittau), Moravia, then part of Austria-Hungary, now Czech Republic. Oskar Schindler's parents, Hans Schindler and his wife Franziska Luser, were Roman Catholic, but divorced when Oskar was 27. Oskar was very close to his younger sister, Elfriede. After school he worked as a commercial salesman. On 6 March 1928, Schindler married Emilie Pelzl (1907-2001) ^[5], daughter of Josef and Maria Pelzl. The marriage was childless. In the 1930s he changed jobs several times. He also tried starting various businesses, but soon went bankrupt because of the Great Depression. He joined the separatist Sudeten German Party in 1935. Though a citizen of Czechoslovakia, Schindler started to work for German military intelligence (the Abwehr). He was exposed and jailed in July 1938, but after the Munich Agreement he was set free as a political prisoner. In 1939, Schindler joined the Nazi Party. One source (based on Nazi documents and postwar investigation) contends that he also continued with work for the Abwehr, paving the way for a German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939.^[6] is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Svitavy (German: Zwittau) is both a city and a district in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. ... For other uses, see Moravia (disambiguation). ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... is the 65th day of the year (66th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Emilie Schindler (October 22, 1907 – October 5, 2001) was a humanitarian who worked together with her husband, Oskar Schindler, to save 1,200 Jews during World War II. Their efforts were the inspiration for the 1982 book Schindlers Ark, and the 1993 movie based on it, Schindlers List... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... The Sudeten German Party (in German: Sudetendeutsche Partei, abbreviation: SdP) was created by Konrad Henlein under the name Sudetendeutsche Heimatfront (in English: Front of Sudeten German Homeland) on October 1st, 1933, some months after the state of Czechoslovakia had outlawed the DNSAP, the German National Socialist Workers Party. In April... The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy. ... The National Socialist German Workers Party, (German: , or NSDAP, commonly known as the Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945. ... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

World War II

Schindler's factory at Brněnec in 2004

An opportunistic businessman, he was one of many who sought to profit from the German invasion of Poland in 1939. Schindler gained ownership of an idle enamelware factory in Kraków not from an expropriated Jew under Nazi Aryanization policies but from a bankruptcy court.^[3] Schindler renamed the factory Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik, or DEF, to manufacture enamelware.^[7] He obtained around 1,000 Jewish slave labourers to work there with the help of his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern. When Stern and Schindler were first introduced to each other, Schindler held out his hand. Stern declined to take it. When Schindler asked why, he explained that he was a Jew and it was forbidden for a Jew to shake a German's hand. Schindler replied with a German scatological term, "Scheisse". There are many famous Holocaust survivors who survived the Nazi genocides in Europe and went on to achievements of great fame and notability. ... This is a list of victims of Nazism who were noted for their achievements. ... This is a list of people who helped Jewish people and others to escape from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, often called rescuers. The list is not exhaustive, concentrating on famous cases, or people who saved the lives of many potential victims. ... Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Gay bashing Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Anti-discriminatory Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity Counter-discriminatory Affirmative action Racial... Book cover The Destruction of the European Jews is a three-volume work published in 1961 by historian Raul Hilberg. ... Functionalism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust as well as most aspects of the Third Reich, such as foreign policy. ... Download high resolution version (1984x1488, 288 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1984x1488, 288 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Location of BrnÄ›nec in the Czech Republic Schindlers factory in 2004 BrnÄ›nec (German: Brünnlitz) is a village in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. ... For the Soviet Unions military action against Poland under the same alliance, see Soviet invasion of Poland (1939). ... In a discussion of art or technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. ... For other uses, see Krakow (disambiguation). ... Aryianization (German Arisierung) is a euphemistic term used for the expropriation of Jews in Nazi Germany, Austria and the territories it controlled. ... In a discussion of art or technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Itzhak Stern was a Jewish accountant to Nazi party member Oskar Schindler. ...

Schindler soon adapted his lifestyle to his income. He became a well-respected guest on SS parties, having easy chats with high-ranking SS officers, often for his benefit.^[7] Initially Schindler may have been motivated by money — hiding wealthy Jewish investors, for instance — but later he began shielding his workers without regard for cost. He would, for instance, claim that unskilled workers were essential to the factory. Harming his workers would result in complaints and demands for compensation from the government.

While witnessing a 1942 raid on the Kraków Ghetto, where soldiers were used to round up the inhabitants for shipment to the concentration camp at Płaszów, Schindler was appalled by the murder of many of the Jews who had been working for him.^[7] He was a very persuasive individual, and after the raid, increasingly used all of his skills to protect his Schindlerjuden ("Schindler's Jews"), as they came to be called. Schindler went out of his way to take care of the Jews who worked at DEF, often calling on his legendary charm and ingratiating manner to help his workers get out of difficult situations.^[7] Once, says author Eric Silver in The Book of the Just, "Two Gestapo men came to his office and demanded that he hand over a family of five who had bought forged Polish identity papers. 'Three hours after they walked in,' Schindler said, 'two drunk Gestapo men reeled out of my office without their prisoners and without the incriminating documents they had demanded'".^[8] The special status of his factory ("business essential to the war effort") became the decisive factor for his efforts to support his Jewish workers. Whenever the "Schindler Jews" were threatened with deportation he could claim exemptions for them. Wives, children and even handicapped persons were shown to be necessary mechanics and metalworkers.^[3] He arranged with Amon Göth, the commandant of Plaszow, for 700 Jews to be transferred to an adjacent factory compound, where they would be relatively safe from the depredations of the German guards. Schindler also reportedly began to smuggle children out of the ghetto, delivering them to Polish nuns, who either hid them from the Nazis or claimed they were Christian orphans. Deportation of Jews from the Kraków Ghetto, March 1943 The Jewish ghetto in Kraków (Cracow) was one of the five main ghettos created by the Nazis in the General Government, during their occupation of Poland during World War II. It was a staging point to begin dividing able... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... . PÅ‚aszów (IPA pronunciation: ) was a concentration camp near Kraków. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... Amon Leopold Göth (or Goeth; November 12, 1908 – September 13, 1946) was a Hauptsturmführer of the SS and was the commandant of the Nazi concentration camp at PÅ‚aszów, Poland. ...

Schindler was arrested twice on suspicion of black market activities and complicity in embezzlement; Göth and other SS-guards used Jewish property (such as money, jewellery, and works of art) for themselves, although according to law, it belonged to the Reich. Schindler mediated such sales on black market and also preserved many stolen items. He managed to avoid being jailed after each arrest. Schindler would typically bribe government officials to avoid investigation. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into underground economy. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop...

As the Red Army drew nearer to Auschwitz and the other easternmost concentration camps, the SS began evacuating the remaining prisoners westward. Schindler persuaded the SS officials to allow him to move his 1,100 Jewish workers to Brněnec (German: Brünnlitz) in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (then in the Sudetenland province), thus sparing the Jews from certain death in the extermination camps. In Brněnec, he gained another former Jewish factory, where he was supposed to produce missiles and hand grenades for the war effort. However, during the months that this factory was running, not a single weapon produced could actually be fired. Hence Schindler made no money; rather, his previously earned fortune was getting steadily smaller from bribing officers and caring for his workers. Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ... Location of BrnÄ›nec in the Czech Republic Schindlers factory in 2004 BrnÄ›nec (German: Brünnlitz) is a village in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. ... Sudetenland (Czech and Polish: Sudety) was the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the Western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ... Aryianization (German Arisierung) is a euphemistic term used for the expropriation of Jews in Nazi Germany, Austria and the territories it controlled. ...

After the war

By the end of the war, Schindler had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black-market purchases of supplies for his workers. Virtually destitute, he moved briefly to Regensburg, Germany and, later, Munich, but did not prosper in postwar Germany. In fact, he was reduced to receiving assistance from Jewish organizations.^[3] Eventually, Schindler emigrated to Argentina in 1948, where he went bankrupt. He divorced his wife Emilie in 1957 and returned to Germany in 1958, where he had a series of unsuccessful business ventures.^[3] Schindler settled down in a little apartment at Am Hauptbahnhof Nr. 4 in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany and tried again – with help from a Jewish organization – to establish a cement factory. This, too, went bankrupt in 1961. His business partner cancelled their partnership. In 1971 Oskar Schindler moved to live with friends in Hildesheim, Germany. Due to a heart complaint he was taken to the Sankt Bernward Hospital in Hildesheim on 12 September 1974, where he died on 9 October 1974, at the age of 66. The costs for his stay in the hospital were paid from social welfare of the city of Hildesheim. ^[9][10] He is buried at the Catholic cemetery at Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the only member of the Nazi party to be so honored.^[3][11] Regensburg (English formerly Ratisbon, Latin Ratisbona, Czech Řezno) is a city (population 150,212 in 2004) in Bavaria, south-east Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ...   is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Mount Zion (Hebrew: ‎ transliteration: Har Tziyyon - Height) is the ancient name of a mountain in jerusalem southe of the old city. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ...

No one really knows what Schindler's motives were. However, he was quoted as saying "I knew the people who worked for me... When you know people, you have to behave toward them like human beings."^[12]

The writer Herbert Steinhouse, who interviewed Schindler in 1948 at the behest of some of the surviving Schindlerjuden (Schindler's Jews), wrote:

Legacy

In 1967, Schindler was honored at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to the victims of the Holocaust as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, or "righteous Gentiles", an honor awarded by Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust at great personal risk. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi party to be so recognized by the planting of a tree in his name at the Yad Vashem Memorial. Image File history File links Schindler1. ... William John Liam Neeson OBE (born June 7, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated Irish actor. ... The Hall of Names containing books of all those who perished in the Holocaust. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Righteous Among the Nations (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם, Hasidei Umot HaOlam), in contemporary usage, is a term often used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. ...

Schindler's story, retold by Holocaust survivor Poldek Pfefferberg, was the basis for Thomas Keneally's book Schindler's Ark (the novel was later renamed Schindler's List), which was adapted into the 1993 movie Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg. In the film, he is played by Liam Neeson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal. The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The prominence of Spielberg's film introduced Schindler into popular culture. As the film is the sole source of most people's knowledge of Schindler, he is generally perceived much as Spielberg's film depicts him: as a man who was instinctively driven by profit-driven amorality, but who at some point made a silent but conscious decision that preserving the lives of his Jewish employees was imperative, even if requiring massive payments to induce Nazis to turn a blind eye. While Spielberg's film takes some cinematic liberties, the depiction of Schindler appears to be a rare example of an unromanticized historical protagonist. Schindler did in fact spend the majority of his wealth, and forever alienated himself from any political standing in his own country, to save the lives of his Jewish workers. Poldek Pfefferberg was one of the Holocaust Survivors who had known Oskar Schindler, and had been protected by the man. ... Thomas Michael Keneally AO (born October 7, 1935) also Tom Keneally, is an Australian novelist. ... Schindlers Ark is a Booker Prize winning novel (1982) by Thomas Keneally, which was later adapted into the highly successful movie Schindlers List directed by Steven Spielberg. ... The year 1993 in film involved many significant films. ... This article is about the movie. ... Steven Allan Spielberg KBE (born December 18, 1946)[1] is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. ... William John Liam Neeson OBE (born June 7, 1952) is an Academy Award-nominated Irish actor. ... Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. ... ©A.M.P.A.S.® The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to artists working in the motion picture industry. ...

In the Autumn of 1999 a suitcase belonging to Schindler was discovered, containing over 7,000 photographs and documents, including the list of Schindler's Jewish workers. The document, on his enamelware factory's letterhead, had been provided to the SS stating that the named workers were "essential" employees. Friends of Schindler found the suitcase in the attic of a house in Hildesheim, Germany, where he had been staying at the time of his death. The friends took the suitcase to Stuttgart, where its discovery was reported by a newspaper, the Stuttgarter Zeitung. The contents of the suitcase; including the list of the names of those he had saved and the text of his farewell speech before leaving "his Jews" in 1945, are now at the Holocaust Museum of Yad Vashem in Israel.^[13]   is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... The term Holocaust museum may refer to: U.S. Holocaust Museum Florida Holocaust Museum Virginia Holocaust Museum Holocaust Museum Houston Holocaust memorials Category: ... The Hall of Names containing books of all those who perished in the Holocaust. ...

See also

Oskar Schindler's grave

• List of people who assisted Jews during the Holocaust
• Righteous Among the Nations
• List of Righteous Among the Nations by country
• John Rabe
• Schindler's Ark
• Schindler's List

This is a list of people who helped Jewish people and others to escape from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, often called rescuers. The list is not exhaustive, concentrating on famous cases, or people who saved the lives of many potential victims. ... Righteous Among the Nations (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם, Hasidei Umot HaOlam), in contemporary usage, is a term often used to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust in order to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. ... This is a per country list of people who helped victims to escape from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, often called rescuers. Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Israel, has recognized over 20,000 Righteous Among the Nations. ... John Rabe John Rabe (November 23, 1882 – January 5, 1950) was a German businessman who sought to rescue more than 250,000 Chinese from slaughter during the Nanjing Massacre. ... Schindlers Ark is a Booker Prize winning novel (1982) by Thomas Keneally, which was later adapted into the highly successful movie Schindlers List directed by Steven Spielberg. ... This article is about the movie. ...

References and footnotes

is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see 5th October (Serbia). ... This article is about the year. ... Interior of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Exterior of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum viewed from Raoul Wallenberg Place (15th St. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 275th day of the year (276th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The UTM Grid The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system is a grid-based method of specifying locations on the surface of the Earth. ...

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Oskar Schindler

• The Schindler Story
• Oskar and Emilie Schindler in Yad Vashem Memorial
• Oskar Schindler's list at Auschwitz.dk
• Holocaust Rescuers Bibliography
• Find-A-Grave profile for Oskar Schindler
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Oskar Schindler
• Real Schindler's list photo from Yad Vashem site
• [1]Interview with Mimi Reinhard, Schindler's secretary

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