The Austrian Schindler: A Hero's Complex Identity

Oskar Schindler was a German-Moravian industrialist and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1200 Jews during the Holocaust. Born in 1908 in Zwittau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary, Schindler grew up in what is now the Czech Republic and worked in several trades before joining the Abwehr, the military intelligence service of Nazi Germany, in 1936. During World War II, Schindler employed Jewish workers in his factories in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, risking his own life to protect them from deportation and death in concentration camps. After the war, Schindler moved to West Germany and later to Argentina, where he died in 1974. He is buried in Jerusalem and was honoured by the Israeli government as Righteous Among the Nations for his efforts to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

Oskar Schindler's life inspired the film 'Schindler's List'

Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist, humanitarian, and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Born in 1908, he grew up in Zwittau, Moravia, and worked in several trades before joining the Abwehr, the military intelligence service of Nazi Germany, in 1936. He collected information for the German government ahead of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and was briefly imprisoned for espionage by the Czechoslovak government.

In 1939, Schindler acquired an enamelware factory in Kraków, Poland, which employed about 1,750 workers at its peak in 1944, 1,000 of whom were Jews. He protected his Jewish workers from deportation and death in Nazi concentration camps, bribing Nazi officials and giving them gifts of luxury items.

As Germany began losing the war in 1944, the SS started closing down concentration camps in the east and sending prisoners to camps in the west. Schindler convinced SS-Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth, commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, to allow him to move his factory to Brněnec/Brünnlitz in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, thus saving his workers from death in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Using names provided by Jewish Ghetto Police officer Marcel Goldberg, Göth's secretary Mietek Pemper compiled a list of 1,200 Jews who travelled to Brünnlitz in October 1944.

Schindler continued to bribe SS officials to prevent his workers' execution until the end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, by which time he had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black market purchases of supplies for his workers. After the war, he moved to West Germany and later to Argentina, where he took up farming. He died in 1974 and was buried in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, possibly the only former member of the Nazi Party to be honoured in this way.

Schindler's life inspired the 1982 novel 'Schindler's Ark' by Thomas Keneally and its 1993 film adaptation, 'Schindler's List', directed by Steven Spielberg. The film follows Schindler, a German industrialist who saves more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern.

Schindler was a German industrialist

Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Born in 1908 in Zwittau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary, Schindler grew up in what is now the Czech Republic. He worked in several trades before joining the Abwehr, the military intelligence service of Nazi Germany, in 1936.

Before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Schindler collected information on railways and troop movements for the German government. He joined the Nazi Party in 1939 and that same year acquired an enamelware factory in Kraków, Poland, which employed around 1,750 workers at its peak in 1944, 1,000 of whom were Jews. Schindler's connections in the Abwehr helped him protect his Jewish workers from deportation and death in concentration camps. As the war progressed, he had to bribe Nazi officials with larger sums and gifts of luxury items to keep his workers safe.

By July 1944, as Germany was losing the war, Schindler convinced SS-Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth, commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, to allow him to move his factory to Brněnec/Brünnlitz in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, thus saving his workers from near-certain death in Auschwitz. Using a list compiled by Mietek Pemper, Schindler transported 1,200 Jews to Brünnlitz in October 1944. He continued to bribe SS officials until the end of World War II in May 1945, by which time he had spent his entire fortune on bribes and supplies for his workers.

He saved the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust

Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, humanitarian, and member of the Nazi Party, is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. He employed them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

Schindler acquired an enamelware factory in Kraków, Poland, in 1939, which employed about 1,750 workers at its peak in 1944, of whom 1,000 were Jews. He protected his Jewish workers from deportation and death in Nazi concentration camps by leveraging his connections with the Abwehr, the military intelligence service of Nazi Germany, and offering bribes and gifts to Nazi officials.

As Germany began losing the war in July 1944, the SS started closing down the easternmost concentration camps and deporting prisoners westward to Auschwitz and other camps. Schindler, at great personal risk, convinced SS-Hauptsturmführer Amon Göth, commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, to allow him to move his factory to Brněnec/Brünnlitz in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. This spared his workers from certain death in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Schindler continued to bribe SS officials to prevent his workers' execution until the end of World War II in May 1945. By then, he had spent his entire fortune on bribes and black market purchases of supplies for his workers. After the war, Schindler moved to West Germany and later to Argentina, where he faced financial difficulties. He died in 1974 and was buried in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, honoured as a Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial.

He was a member of the Nazi Party

Oskar Schindler was a member of the Nazi Party. He joined in 1939, the same year he acquired an enamelware factory in Kraków, Poland. By 1944, his factory employed about 1,750 workers, 1,000 of whom were Jews.

Schindler's membership of the Nazi Party was significant in enabling him to protect his Jewish workers from deportation and death in the Nazi concentration camps. His connections helped him to keep his workers safe, and he bribed Nazi officials with luxury items obtained on the black market.

Schindler's actions as a member of the Nazi Party were at odds with the Party's ideology. He is believed to have joined the Party to secure industrial contracts and to profit financially from the war. However, he eventually began shielding his workers without regard for cost, putting his own life at risk.

Schindler's membership of the Nazi Party is a controversial aspect of his biography. He is believed to have held high-ranking positions and received awards within the Party. However, his exact rank and the nature of his involvement are unclear, and he may have embellished his importance to impress others.

Despite his membership of the Nazi Party, Schindler is honoured today for his role in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust. He is buried in Jerusalem and has been recognised as "Righteous Among the Nations" by the Israeli government.

He was honoured and is buried in Jerusalem

Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, humanitarian, and member of the Nazi Party, is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. He employed them in his factories in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After the war, he moved to West Germany and later Argentina, where he took up farming. However, his business ventures failed, and he returned to Germany, where he relied on financial support from those whose lives he had saved during the war.

Schindler died on 9 October 1974 in Hildesheim, Germany, and was buried in Jerusalem on Mount Zion, possibly the only former member of the Nazi Party to be honoured in this way. His grave is visited by Jews, Christians, and people of no religious faith. He was named Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli government in 1993, and a tree was planted in his honour in the Avenue of the Righteous at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

Schindler's story inspired the 1982 novel 'Schindler's Ark' and its 1993 film adaptation, 'Schindler's List', which reflect his transformation from an opportunist motivated by profit to someone who showed extraordinary initiative, tenacity, courage, and dedication in saving the lives of his Jewish employees.

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