Schindler, Oscar

Childhood and Youth

Oscar Schindler was born on April 28, 1908 in the Austro-Hungarian town of Zwittau (now Svitavy in the Czech Republic), in the Catholic family of Hans Schindler and Francisco Luser ^[1] . The family came from Vienna , the native language was German . He had a younger sister, Elfrida, born in 1915 ^[2] . Oscar graduated from a technical school, but did not pass the exam to obtain a certificate. After completing several technical courses in Brno, he worked with his father in his company for 3 years. They were engaged in the production and sale of agricultural machinery and other equipment. March 6, 1928 Oscar married. According to Emily (Oscar’s wife), Oscar’s father, Hans Schindler, was a drunkard and a libertine, which affected Oscar badly ^[3] . Oscar was fond of motorcycle racing and even won prizes in competitions ^[4] .

After meeting his future wife in 1927, Oscar began to work separately from his father and became an employee of the Moravian Electric Company (MEAS; Czech. Moravská elektrotechnická akciová společnost ) in Brno. Then he worked in a driving school and served for 18 months in the 10th Rifle Regiment of the 31st Army of Czechoslovakia, received the rank of corporal. After being discharged from the army, he returned to work at MEAS. In 1931, MEAS went bankrupt, and Oscar was unemployed for a year. His father could not help him, because he closed his business because of depression ^[5] . At the same time, he, like his father, became addicted to drunkenness and was repeatedly arrested by the police for appearing drunk in public places and disorderly conduct. In 1931, in search of work, he left for Berlin . Returning from Berlin, he was engaged in agriculture and banking. Until January 1938 he worked for the Prague Jaroslav Simek Bank. Then he was involved in the sale of property by installments for a businessman from Brno ^[6] . Standing up financially, Schindler moved to a new house, which his wife described as a mansion furnished with elegant furniture and crystal chandeliers. He started an affair with his school friend, Aureli Schlegel, who gave birth, presumably from him, to two children ^[7] . In the midst of this novel, after two years of illness, Oscar's mother died. His father, Hans Schindler, died in 1945, and before his death, Oscar sent him 1,000 marks a month. According to Schindler, his sister also died in 1945, he accused the occupying Soviet authorities of her death ^[8] .

Abwehr Work

In 1935, Schindler became a member of the Sudeten German party led by the Nazi Conrad Henlein and was recruited by German military intelligence to spy against Czechoslovakia ^[9] . He, like many Sudeten Germans, after the depression supported the nationalist policies of Adolf Hitler , who came to power in Germany in 1933 ^[10] . During this period, Schindler was able to establish such contacts with the German Nazis that helped him in his subsequent business during the war ^[11] . Schindler claimed that he began work on the Abwehr in 1936. Emily and some other sources claim that he first had contacts with an Abwehr agent in Krakow already in 1935 ^[12] . July 18, 1938 during a meeting with a Czechoslovak policeman recruited by him ^[13] Oscar was arrested by the Czechoslovak secret police. A July 28 secret police report stated that Schindler was a major spy and posed a major security risk. According to Dr. Sobotka, head of the Brno Police Department, Schindler admitted that he worked for the Abwehr not by conviction, but exclusively for money ^[14] .

Oscar was in a Czechoslovak prison until October 7, 1938, when he was released and returned to Zwittau after the signing of the Munich Agreement and the accession of the Sudetenland to the Third Reich ^[15] . Initially, Zwittau did not enter the territories joining Germany, but during the negotiations Hitler insisted on adding this area due to its homogeneous German population and strategic railway junction. On November 1, 1938, Schindler applied for entry into the NSDAP . After a vacation that the Abwehr gave Schindler to rest from prison, he was again included in intelligence work against Czechoslovakia in Moravian Ostrava . In January 1939, Oscar and Emily moved to this city, and on March 15 the Wehrmacht captured the remainder of Czechoslovakia. Apartment in Ostrava at ul. Sadova, 25 Schindler retained himself until the end of the war ^[16] .

Oscar Schindler took an active part in preparing for the German invasion of Poland. So, a few months earlier, he and 25 of his agents were actively engaged in arms smuggling and preparation for military operations in Tesinska Silesia ^[17] . According to Emily, Oscar was directly related to the so-called Gleivitsky incident - a provocation that served as a reason for the German attack on Poland . Emily claimed that the Polish uniforms worn by those who pretended to be an attack by the Poles were obtained and stored in their house, which was located about 40 miles south of Glaivitz ^[18] . It is also believed that he played an active role in preparing the attack of German saboteurs on Polish border guards at the Yablunkov pass ^[19] . Schindler had a bad relationship with the local Gestapo branch, which suspected that the burglary in his house, committed by one of the local criminals, was an act of Polish intelligence, and that this led to the loss of Abwehr secret documents. But Schindler with the outbreak of war left for Krakow and practically did not appear in Ostrava ^[20] .

During the war

On September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland and defeated it. After the occupation ended, Schindler moved to Krakow. Subsequently, she and Emily lived there until 1944 ^[21] . A few weeks after Schindler's arrival, the occupation authorities completed the formation of the Governor General with a center in Krakow under the leadership of Hans Frank ^[22] . Between Frank as a representative of the civilian authorities, the Wehrmacht command and security services subordinate to the SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler , there were significant disagreements and conflicts that Schindler subsequently used to his advantage ^[23] . There is disagreement about the exact date of the move, but on October 17, 1939 Schindler was officially transferred to the headquarters of the Abwehr in Krakow ^[24] .

As early as September 21, the occupation authorities introduced the first discriminatory restrictions on Jews. Jews were required to wear a yellow star on their clothes. A number of administrative regulations deprived Krakow Jews of their money, as well as movable and immovable property. The only things that were not subject to confiscation were personal items. Jewish assets were transferred to the management of the "Aryans" ^[25] . Thanks to this and with the help of the Abwehr employees in Krakow involved in the redistribution of property, Schindler was able to acquire real estate in this city in the first months after the occupation ^[26] . In the future, this became the reason for Schindler's accusations of complicity in Nazi crimes against Jews ^[27] .

On November 18 or 19, Schindler met Yitzhak Stern , a Jewish accountant. He recommended Schindler to rent a Polish-Jewish company for the production of enamelware Rekord. According to Stern, the company went bankrupt because it was poorly managed, but had good prospects if military orders were received. Stern's brother worked for a Swiss company, the creditor of this company, and knew well its financial condition ^[28] . This enterprise has become the Emailwarenfabrik (DEF) factory (today the Schindler Factory Museum). In addition to talking about business, Stern and Schindler had a small philosophical discussion, during which Stern quoted the phrase from the Talmud, “He who saves one life, saves the whole world” ^[29] . Schindler received both good business advice and a moral principle that led him in the future to such use of the work of the Jews that saved their lives. In 1956, Schindler wrote about Stern ^[30] :

His high ethical values, his fearless willingness to help, his sacrificial efforts for his brothers, combined with modesty in his own life, repeatedly provoked my admiration and respect. Mr. Isaac Stern was an important part of the conditions that made my rescue efforts successful.

In turn, Stern also spoke highly of Schindler. In particular, he argued that Schindler had a very different attitude towards Jews from the very first meeting than other Germans. For example, on December 4, 1939, he warned Stern of an impending Jewish pogrom in Krakow ^[31] .

In November, Schindler also met Leopold (Poldek) Pfefferberg-Page - a Jew, a former Polish military who had fled from captivity. Poldek was in an illegal situation and was active in the black market of Krakow, where he acquired scarce goods for Schindler ^[32] . Their friendship lasted until Schindler’s death ^[33] .

One of the key people in Schindler’s life in connection with his acquisition of the factory was the former director and co-owner of the factory, Abraham Bankier . Schindler’s friends joked that after he received the factory “all his fortune was in a Jew named Banker and ten enameled pot lids” ^[34] . The banker is considered the very person who actually managed the factory and ensured Schindler financial success ^[35] . He died in 1956 in Vienna ^[36] . The Banker had a separate office next to Schindler's, and he never wore a yellow star. Thanks to the Banker, part of the factory’s production went to the black market and returned to Schindler in cash, which he could use both to secure his own life and to bribe the Nazis, including to save Jews. As one witness said, “without the Banker, there would be no Schindler” ^[35] .

Schindler’s factory, which was briefly called Emalia, was located at 4 Lipova in the Cracow district of Podguže between the historic Jewish district of Kazimierz and two Jewish cemeteries in the area of ​​Jerusalem Street ^[37] . After the plant opened, Schindler hired 7 Jewish employees, among them former co-owners of Wolf Gleitman, Nathan Wurzel, Abraham Bankir, and 250 Polish workers ^[38] .

Schindler's Business and the Salvation of Jews

By 1940, Schindler had three businesses in Krakow: the Emalia factory, the glassware and cutlery factory (former Schlomo Weiner company), and the manufacture of glass products across the street from the Emalia factory. Several hundred Polish workers worked at these plants ^[39] . The number of Jewish workers grew — they became 150 by the end of 1940, 550 in 1942, 900 in 1943 and 1,000 in 1944. It is possible that the numbers of the first years are exaggerated ^[40] . At the peak of loading in 1944, according to reports, Schindler employed from 1,700 to 1,750 people, including 1,000 Jews. In 1943, the glass factory was closed. From the lack of information in Schindler’s reports on the rescue of Jews from this factory, historian David Crowe concludes that mainly Poles worked there. Schindler also had a small German staff ^[39] . Schindler initially hired more Jews because they worked better than the Poles, but they cost him much less. Later, he hired more Jews to save them as well ^[40] .

Having witnessed a raid in the Krakow ghetto in 1942 and realizing all the horrors committed by the Hitler regime against the Jewish population, as well as his involvement in Nazi crimes, Schindler took the position of an absolute humanist and began to defend the Jews without any benefit for himself. Oscar Schindler decided to bargain from high-ranking Nazi officials the opportunity to take Jews to their enterprises from the Plash concentration camp , which was facing a certain death. Later, the Jews saved by Schindler from death during the Second World War became known as the “Schindler Jews”. The number of people saved by Schindler is estimated at approximately 1200 people (800 men, 300 women and 100 children) ^[41] .

Evacuation to Brunlitz

At the end of 1944, the Nazis began the mass extermination of all Jews in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Schindler managed to take out a thousand of his charges in Brenets (German Brunlitz) in Moravia and thereby save them from death in the death camps . He had to spend almost all nights at his enterprise, for he was afraid of the sudden appearance of the Gestapo. May 10, 1945 Brenets was liberated by Soviet troops.

After the war

In 1948, Oscar and Emilia Schindlers emigrated to Argentina . Ten years after emigration, Oscar returned to Germany . In the future, he traveled a lot to different countries where the people he saved (including the USSR ) settled.

Schindler spent the last years of his life in complete poverty, existing on the allowances of Jewish organizations and the gifts of the people he saved ^[42] . He died in Hildesheim on October 9, 1974 ^[43] . He was buried in a Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem ^[44] .

Having left Emilia, he, however, did not divorce her, but after his departure from Argentina they never met again.

Based on these events, retold by the surviving Poldek Pfefferberg, the Australian writer Thomas Kenelli in 1982 wrote the book Schindler's Ark , awarded the Booker Prize . In 1993, director Steven Spielberg filmed the book, staging the black-and-white psychological drama Schindler's List . Spielberg’s film received 7 Academy Award from the Academy Award, including an award in the nomination for Best Film, and Schindler, Liam Neeson, was nominated for Best Actor.

Schindler’s image presented in Kenelli’s book and Spielberg’s film, as well as the description of many historical facts in these works do not correspond to reality. So, in particular, Yitzhak Stern did not work at Schindler’s factory in Krakow for a single day and was not involved in compiling lists of rescued Jews ^[45] .

There were 9 versions of the “Schindler list” compiled for the Nazi authorities. To date, 5 lists have been discovered, one of them is in the American Holocaust Museum , one is in the German Federal Archives in Koblenz, two are in the Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Museum and one is in private hands ^[46] .

The name "Schindler" has become a household name for those who saved many Jews from the Holocaust. For example, Colonel José Arturo Castellanos is called the “Salvador Schindler” ^[47] , and the film about the partisan Nikolai Kiselyov was called the “ Kiselev List ” by analogy with the “Schindler list” ^[48] .

In 1951, one of the former co-owners of the factory, Nathan Wurzel (Wurzel?), Accused Schindler of stealing Jewish property and beating. Wurzel claimed that Schindler ordered him to be beaten after refusing to sign documents on the sale of the factory ^[49] . This case lasted until 1956 ^[50] . Schindler claimed that Wurzel, whom he helped get into the factory, but then had to fire, was a thief and manipulator that he tried to fight for influence on Schindler by slandering other senior employees. Wurzel also tried to discredit the Banker, including in front of German customers ^[51] . According to Schindler, Wurzel collaborated with the German SD security service ^[52] .

In 1962, when considering Schindler’s candidacy for the righteous world, one of the Jews he saved, Julius Weiner, accused Schindler of having Schindler Weiner visit Krakow’s factory in Krakow on 15 October, threatening with a gun, taking all the money from the cash register and forced Shlomo to sign a document on the transfer of the factory to Schindler. Julius stayed at the factory. Subsequently, according to Wurzel and Weiner, Schindler deliberately set up a shortage to accuse Julius, ordered him to be beaten, and fired him. Nevertheless, Julius, for some unknown reason, was on the list of Jews who were evacuated to Brunlitz in 1944, and therefore survived. Schindler denied the allegations, and the testimonies of the witnesses were inconsistent. ^[53]

Based on the opinions of a number of witnesses and some of Schindler’s own reservations, historian David Crowe concludes that Schindler really could have done harm to the Jews in 1939 in the unbridled pursuit of money, which he was engaged in at that time ^[54] .

In 1967, Schindler was awarded the Israeli Holocaust Memorial ( Yad Vashem ), and on June 24, 1993, he and his wife were awarded the title of Righteous of the World for the salvation of Jews.

It is believed that Oscar Schindler saved Jews solely for the sake of money. For this reason, in 2001, by a decision of the Council of the Pardubice Region, Schindler was excluded from the list of prominent figures of this region. The book “The Truth About Oscar Schindler” by Czech author Jitka Gruntova is devoted to this topic ^[55] . Oscar Schindler’s wife, Emilia Schindler , in her memoirs also adheres to a very critical assessment of her husband’s personality and activities, in particular, in her opinion: “Schindler’s list was compiled by a man named Goldman. He entered people there for money. No money - no place on the list. ” But it is possible that this decision was dictated by the current political situation. It is suggested that “the blame for the Schindler Council is simply the fact that he was saving the Jews” ^[56] .

However, in a later interview, Emilia said that he organized the second factory in the Sudetenland solely for the purpose of saving people. Indeed, in Plashov, near Krakow, the factory was closed due to the approach of the front, and all the workers had to go to Auschwitz. “In Brunlitz, he earned nothing. I was engaged in finance at the factory and I know for sure ... ” ^[57]

• Sendlerova, Irena
• Lazovsky, Eugeniusz
• Wallenberg, Raul

• David M. Crowe. Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account of His Life, Wartime Activities, and the True Story Behind the List. - Cambridge, MA: Westview Press, 2004 .-- 800 p. - ISBN 978-0-465-00253-5 .

• Schindler Oskar (1908 - 1974) (Russian) . The Righteous Among The Nations . Yad Vashem . Date of treatment February 22, 2016.
• Schindler's original list at the Yad Vashem Museum
• Last on Schindler's List - an article on Schindler's wife
• “Mimi from Schindler's List,” an article in Florida Magazine
• The truth about Oscar Schindler
• The author of the "Schindler's list" has died