Oskar Schindler: An Unlikely Hero Sinclair 2

Table of Contents

Oskar Schindler ...... 2

Factories ...... 3

After the War ...... 6

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Outline

I. Early Life/Career

A. Family

B. Religion

C. Relationships

II. Jobs

A. Germany’s intelligence service

B. Father’s machinery business

C. Entrepreneurship

III. War

A. Involvement in Nazi party

B. Relationships with other guards

C. Bribery

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Gina Sinclair

Ms. Murphy

English

21 August 2014

Oskar Schindler: An Unlikely Hero

Goodness usually is not described as someone who drinks, womanizes, or wears a Nazi badge, but it was Oskar Schindler, the tall, broad- shouldered, blonde, blue eyed Nazi that saved over 1,200 lives during the Holocaust. By employing Jewish workers (destined to die at concentration or death camps) at his factories, Schindler preserved generations of Jewish families. According to the survivors that have lived to tell Schindler’s account, it was clear to the workers that their lives meant everything to this man. Risking his well-being and belongings,

Oskar Schindler devoted his Nazi Career to saving the lives of oppressed Jews.

This hero’s story begins on April 28, 1908 in Svitavy, where Schindler was born to Hans

Schindler, a small entrepreneur, and his wife Frantiska. Schindler was a born Catholic with very religious parents. Following his completion of primary school, he enrolled in the town’s most prestigious secondary school but was later expelled due to counterfeiting school documents before an assessment. It could later be seen that1 Schindler’s conflicts with the law would lead to a break with his father and employer. After attending a series of trade schools in Brno, Moravia and marrying Emilie Pelzl in 1928, “Schindler held a variety of jobs, which included working in his father's farm machinery business in Svitavy, opening a driving school in Sumperk, and selling government property in Brno” (“Holocaust Encyclopedia”). He also served in the

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Czechoslovak army and in 1938 attained the rank of lance corporal in the reserves.

Oskar Schindler

Schindler was later hired by Germany’s intelligence service and was involved in espionage against Czechoslovakia and Poland, but was arrested at Svitavy’s main square. He was sentenced to jail without suspension, but was fortunately released on a general pardon that followed the

Munich Treaty (a four-part deal between Germany, France, Italy and Britain that gave Germany the rights to the Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland in exchange for Adolf Hitler's promise to not invade any other European lands). By 1935, many Sudeten (ethnic Germans living in

Czechoslovakia) Germans were joining the pro-Nazi Sudeten German Party, so Schindler joined, too. This decision was not out of any love for the Nazis, though, but because it made business sense to go along with the prevailing party. In 1939, he arrived in Krakow, Poland, looking for a way to profit from the conflict in any way possible.

Promptly creating friendships with key officers in the Wehrmacht and the SS

(Schutzstaffel), Schindler offered them black market goods, such as cognac and cigars in order to gain their respect. He became a well-esteemed guest in SS parties, having easy chats with high- ranking officials. It was around that time that he bought Rekord Ltd., a Jewish- owned enamelware manufacturer, and converted its plant to establish the German Enamelware Factory

Oskar Schindler. Schindler convinced the German soldiers that the Jews were essential to the war efforts and used bribes when the well being of his Jewish workers was threatened. Although having two other factories in Krakow, Jewish workers (residing in the Krakow ghetto) were only employed at Emalia. From 1940, the number of Jewish employees started to grow; there were soon 150 Jewish workers.

Factories

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In 1942 when the Nazis began relocating Krakow’s Jews to labor camps, “Schindler raced to the stations where some of his workers were being moved and argued with an SS officer about how needed they were for the war effort, and finally was able to rescue them and escort the workers back, after dropping the names of some of his Nazi friends and making a couple of threats” (“Notable Biographies”). Later on in early June of 1942, the SS raided the Krakow ghetto for the first time, taking 7,000 Jews to the extermination camp at Belzec and killing them there. Many say that the brutality of this happening had a deep impact on the actions of

Schindler, who worked even harder now to protect the lives of Jewish prisoners.

According to notablebiographies.com, the Nazis ordered a final liquidation of the Krakow ghetto in early 1943, which was when Schindler allowed his workers to stay at the factory overnight. Amon Goeth, a young and cruel SS officer was sent to command this operation.

Taking advantage of his good connections with this leader from previous meetings and bribery,

Schindler obtained permission from Goeth to establish a branch of his factory just outside of the

Plaszow camp (called Brunnlitz). Here, he employed more than 900 Jews and allowed 450 to live there, most of whom were unfit for metal works. This protection of Jewish workers, though, did not act without risk or cost.

“In October of 1944, Plaszow’s designation was changed from that of a labor camp to a concentration camp” (“Death Camps”), which meant that its prisoners were marked for transport to death camps such as Auschwitz. Because of this, Schindler approached Goeth about moving his factory and workers to Brunnlitz, as to continue the making of “vital” war supplies for

Hitler’s army. Following yet another bribe, Goeth agreed, and told Schindler to draw up a list of the people he wanted to have work at the new factory. Now Schindler was faced with the task of choosing who to save- a literal matter of life and death. Finally, one of his assistants drew up a

6 Sinclair 7 list of the 1,100 people (including workers from Emalia and other factories) that would be spared from the brutal conditions of death camps. This list later became known as the famous

Schindler’s List. Scholars have also interpreted the making of this list as an indication that

Schindler’s concern for his workers was not purely financial.

Schindler’s first words to the Jews at Brunnlitz was this: “You are the Schindler’s Juden

[Jews], and in here, you will survive.” During the time that his workers were at Brunnlitz,

Schindler tried to make life as easy as possible for them. He was aware of the fact that the only clothes they owned were the ones on their bodies, so Schindler gave them permission to steal materials from a wool factory. Here, Schindler’s workers never actually manufactured a single useful shell (the outer casings for bullets). There wasn’t enough material being produced at

Brunnlitz, so at one point, Schindler bought a carload of enamelware from another factory just to have some finished work to show the SS. This wagonload of ammunition was the only product of eight months of work, which was not convincing enough for the SS. Lack of production soon lead to Schindler’s two arrests (he was not put in jail). The first time Schindler left Brunnlitz was in 1945, when Soviet troops liberated the camp near his factory.

After the War

Similar to his life before the war, Schindler’s post-war life was unstable: emotionally and financially. Because of his status as a Nazi, Schindler and his wife escaped to Regensburg,

Germany from Moravia as the Soviet Army approached Czechoslovakia, with little more than his life and the clothes he wore. His assets were left in the now Soviet controlled territory, and as a result, Schindler had no hope of regaining them. Because of this, him and his wife could only survive with the help of saved Jews. These Jews also funded Schindler’s immigration to

Argentina in 1949, where he attempted to begin an otter ranching business, but failed. In the late

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1950s, as Schindler was breaking down emotionally and financially, his marriage ended- Emillie and him were split (but not divorced). His failures in Argentina moved him back to Germany, where he started a cement factory, which also failed. By this point, Schindler was slipping into alcoholism and barely had enough financial support to live, squandering all the money provided to him by the Jews.

Schindler’s story ends in Hildesheim, Germany on October 9, 1974, where he died penniless and unknown from heart and liver problems. Buried in Israel at the Protestant

Cemetery in Jerusalem, Schindler’s efforts to save the Jews were not recognized until 1962, when he was awarded a “Righteous Among the Nations” award as well as a Museum Medal of

Remembrance to Schindler from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council after his death.

Despite his life before the time of his death when Schindler was a very unsuccessful man, Steven

Spielberg’s film (based on Thomas Keneally’s novel) Schindler’s list has piqued many interests in this hero’s life.

It was not only the deeds of Oskar Schindler that separated him from all Nazis, but the mindset of his which showed that Jewish lives were worth saving. From Emalia to his factory in

Brunnlitz, it could be seen how much the existence of these Jews meant to Schindler, and to them, he really was a hero. “He had this air of such goodness emanating from him,” says

Ludmilla Page, one of the Jews he rescued. Just as his award labeled him, Schindler truly was one of the righteous among the gentiles. Oskar Schindler will forever be remembered as a man of persistence and a hero to the Jews.

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Bibliography

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Brecher, Elinor J. Schindler's Legacy: True Stories of the List Survivors. New York, NY:

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Byers, Ann. Oskar Schindler: Saving Jews from the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ:

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Crowe, David. Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account of His Life, Wartime Activities, and the

True Story behind the List. Cambridge, MA: Westview, 2004. Print.

Keneally, Thomas. Schindler's List. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982. Print.

"Oskar Schindler." Oskar Schindler. Deathcamps.org, 29 Jan. 2006. Web. 01 Apr. 2014.

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"Oskar Schindler." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust

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Roberts, Jeremy. Oskar Schindler: Righteous Gentile. New York: Rosen Publ. Group, 2000.

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