Oscar Schindler: biography with photos, interesting facts from life

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Oscar Schindler was awarded the title of "Righteous Among the Nations", he was everyone's favorite, and later became the hero of the Steven Spielberg film. What was Schindler's work to save the Jews? And can his life really be called the path of the righteous?

Young years

The biography of Oskar Schindler has recently been of interest to both professional historians and amateurs. After all, the life path of this man was filled with contradictions. Schindler was born in 1908 in Zwittau, in what is now the Czech Republic. His family belonged to the middle class and was part of the German-speaking diaspora in the Sudetenland. Young Oskar Schindler, whose photo can be found even on the pages of history books, graduated from a German school. In the future, he planned to study engineering and follow in the footsteps of his father in order to manage an agricultural factory in the future.

Joining the Nazi Party

Among Schindler's comrades there were quite a few Jews, but he had no particular friendship with any of them. Just like most of his other German speakersfriends, Schindler joined the political party of Konrad Geilen, which supported the Nazi regime and advocated the annexation of Czechoslovakia to Germany. In 1938, he became one of the members of the Nazi Party.

Start factory management

Some facts from the biography of Oskar Schindler in many respects contradict the image of a man-legend - first of all, his passion for parties and a carefree lifestyle. In the autumn of 1939, he appeared in the ancient city of Krakow, which at that time was already occupied. At that time, Krakow was an ideal place for German entrepreneurs who wanted to cash in on the disasters of the occupied territories. In October of the same year, Schindler takes over the management of an enamelware factory formerly owned by a Jewish man.

With the help of accountant Isaac Stern, Schindler carefully calculated his next steps, gradually accumulating capital. A small factory located on the outskirts of Krakow began to supply dishes to the German army, and the products literally sold out by leaps and bounds. Three months later, 250 Poles and 7 Jews were already working at the factory. By the end of 1942, a small production turned into a real giant of enamelware and equipment for German soldiers.

Many versions of Oskar Schindler's biography do not indicate the fact that he was a great lover of various pleasures. He often threw noisy parties to which he invited SSofficials. The only thing that distinguished him from other employees of the German administration was a rather humane attitude towards factory workers, including Jews.

Rise of a noble purpose

Oskar Schindler had little reason to oppose the power of the Nazi regime. But gradually the rejection of cruelty towards Jews and their persecution grew in him. Little by little, the selfish goal of filling your pocket with money as much as possible began to fade into the background. Schindler increasingly began to think about how to save as many people as possible from the trap of Nazi executioners. Ultimately, Schindler was willing to sacrifice not only money, but his own life for this purpose.

Saving the Jews from death

In the biography of Oskar Schindler there are many details that can help explain today how he embodied his intention to save the Jews from inevitable death. One of his main assets was the privileged position of the enterprise, which was "necessary for the wartime economy." This status allowed Schindler not only to conclude a large number of military contracts, but also to involve Jews in production. When one of them was threatened with being sent to a concentration camp, Schindler demanded their release, arguing that a decrease in the number of workers would negatively affect production. He used any means - including falsifying records, recording children, women or representativesintellectual professions like mechanics or locksmiths.

Opening a branch at the factory

Several times Schindler ended up in the Gestapo, where he was accused of patronizing Jews, but this did not stop him. In the spring of 1943, the ghetto in Krakow was liquidated, and the remnants of the Jewish population were transferred to the Plaszow concentration camp, located on the outskirts of the city. From one of the most brutal camp commandants (and also his drinking buddy), Schindler obtained permission to establish a branch for factory employees in Zabloch. There it was easier for him to create relatively tolerable conditions for the existence of the Jews, at least slightly expand their diet with products that Schindler purchased with his own money secretly.

Saving the Jews

The biography of Oskar Schindler is interesting, first of all, because he did not retreat from any difficulties in order to save as many human lives as possible. At the end of 1944, the Plaszow concentration camp received an urgent evacuation order as the Russians were approaching. Most of the prisoners - about 20,000 adults and children - went to the death camps. Hearing of the evacuation order, Schindler contacted a department of the High Command of the Armed Forces and managed to get official permission to continue manufacturing tableware at the Brünnlitz factory. It was assumed that the prisoners of the camp in Zabloch would move to a new factory. However, instead of going to Brunnlitz, 800 men and 300 women from Schindler's list were sent todeath camps Gross-Rosen and Auschwitz.

The case of the prisoners of the Holešov camp

When Schindler found out about what had happened, he first of all began to seek the release of men, and then sent his secretary to Auschwitz to negotiate the release of Jewish women. She managed to do this - for each prisoner it was promised to pay 7 German marks. One of the important facts that is often not mentioned in short biographies of Oskar Schindler is his heroic deed, thanks to which 120 Jewish men from the Holeshov concentration camp were released.

The labor of spouses

Prisoners performed digging and stone work. In January 1945, when the Russian troops were already approaching, the workers were evacuated from the concentration camp to the west in cattle cars, without food or drink. After a week of travel they were at the gates of Brünnlitz. Schindler's wife Emily barely had time to stop the concentration camp manager, who had already ordered the wagons to be sent back. Even Schindler himself took a lot of effort to convince the commandant that the factory really needed these workers.

The couple began caring for 107 survivors along the way, who were extremely malnourished. Many prisoners had frostbitten limbs. But thanks to the help of the Schindlers, they gradually returned to life. An interesting fact about Oskar Schindler, which is not always mentioned in his biographies: he was able to persuade the camp commandant not to burn the bodies of the dead from among those who could not recover from the road to Brunnelitz. Schindler achievedto be buried according to Jewish tradition in a cemetery plot specially bought by him near the Catholic Church.

Schindler - the hero of the movie, the subject of research

The biography of Oskar Schindler, whose photo in his youth can be found in this article, has become the subject of numerous disputes among historians. Also, based on his biographies, Steven Spielberg created the legendary film - Schindler's List. It tells the story of a man who saved hundreds of lives during the war. However, his life was not as righteous as it might seem at first glance. For example, the historian and member of the lower house of the Czech parliament, Itka Gruntova, argues that the biography of Oskar Schindler is unworthy of such films being made based on her motives. The man who received the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in Israel was allegedly in reality a drunkard, a traitor to the motherland, a ladies' man and a bribe-taker. Books by Itka Gruntova gained great popularity. In her opinion, Schindler is not worthy of being included in the list of heroes of the motherland.

Who was Schindler really?

In the short biographies of Oskar Schindler, it is rarely mentioned how the life of his wife Emilia developed. Shortly before her death, she published a book called I, Emilia Schindler. In it, she shared revelations that her husband “was neither a philanthropist nor a decent spouse. He just loved to live beautifully, throwing dust in his eyes. Itka Gruntova, who devoted 10 years of her life to researching the history of the Pardubice region, where Schindler was born, claims: it is not without reason that the directors Kennelly andSpielberg's films begin with Schindler's military period.

Improper deeds

Oscar Schindler (a photo in his youth can be seen in the article) in the pre-war past committed such acts that can hardly be called heroic. He conducted espionage activities against his homeland, and when he was detained, he explained his actions with a desire to earn money. This motif is often found in Schindler's biographies. The most conflicting information concerns the period when he was the owner of a utensil factory. The biography and photos of Oskar Schindler presented in this article will be of interest to readers of different age categories. After all, this man, who remained largely a mystery to historians, once did incredible things: during the Holocaust, he saved 1,200 Jews.

However, his biography is filled with contradictions. There is a lot of evidence that the main factor that forced Schindler to buy Jews for factory work was the cheapness of this labor force. He acquired workers for bribes, a list of which later served as evidence of his activities in rescuing prisoners. Many other interesting facts from the life of Oskar Schindler could be learned from his wife. “Schindler's List was compiled by a man named Goldman, who brought people there only for money. If there was nothing to pay with, then there was no place for them on the list,” Emilia said.