Oscar Schindler: a Man Worth Knowing

German businessman Oskar Schindler became an unusual hero when he saved hundreds of Jews in Poland and Czechoslovakia from death at the hands of the Nazis during World War II (1939–45). By employing them in his factory, Schindler protected them from the wrath of the Nazi Party and preserved generations of Jewish families (“Oskar Schindler Biography”). Is Oskar Schindler a man worth knowing?

Early Years

As a child Oskar Schindler was a very popular boy and had many friends at school, he attended a German-language school, also known as Sudetenland. Schindler was not a truly impressive student and often neglected most of his classes. Schindler was the first born child of the parents of Hans and Louisa Schindler on April 28th, 1908, born to a prosperous family in Zwittau in Czechoslovakia. Middle Years

Schindler had worked with his father as a farm-equipment manufacturer in the 1920s until his marriage to a woman who went by the name Emily, she had caused many complications in Schindler’s and his father’s relationship, so he then decided to quit his father’s business and to go work as sales manager for a Moravian electric company. Around this time Adolf Hitler’s Nazi’s Party began to rise and Schindler was quickly influenced by Hitler to join him. Schindler quickly created alliances with key officers and in both the Wehrmacht and the SS, as though, it wasn’t enough to join Hitler he was also offering both the Wehrmacht and SS illegal black-market goods. Schindler met a Jewish accountant named, Itzhak Stern. They then purchased a bankrupt kitchenware factory and started their business. In June 1942, the Nazi began to relocate Krakow’s Jews to labor camps, this affected Schindler because all of his workers including his office manager were all relocated. Schindler was able to recuse his workers but only by dropping names of his Nazi friends and making a couple of threats to the SS officer.

A final “liquidation”(the process of realizing upon assets and of discharging liabilities in concluding the affairs of a business, estate, etc.) of the Krakow ghetto had been ordered in early 1943 by the Nazis. Schindler was able to use his excellent bribing skills and was able to bribe Amon Goeth, the young SS officer who was put in charge of the operation, Schindler had bribed Goeth until he finally gave up and agreed. In order for Schindler to continue to employ his workers, he had to choose the employees he wanted to keep and those he wanted to lose after the Plaszow design in 1944 changed that of a labor camp to a concentration camp. In the fall of 1944, Schindler made a necessary arrangement to begin the process of moving his factory to the town of Brunnlitz, Czechoslovakia.

Later Years

On May 8, 1945, the war had finally come to an end and Germany had finally surrendered. Schindler had gathered all his workers on the factory floor to pass along the good news. He thanked each member of the SS who was present and encouraged them to go home back to their families. Fearing of capture, Schindler and his wife fled to the east to avoid the advancing Russian troops. After world war two had ended Schindler had decided to move to Argentina and purchase a farm. He soon became bankrupt and had to rely on the Jewish Charity organization. In 1948 Schindler moved to West Germany but this time he left and abandoned his wife. Several grateful individuals gave him money and he started a current business. For most of his life, Schindler had spend it all on funds provided form the government, until the West German government granted him an abnormal amount of money in 1968. Significance

Shortly after Schindler’s fifty-fourth birthday in 1962 he was declared a “Righteous Gentile”(the phrase used for those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust). Schindler was invited to plant a tree on Avenue of the Righteous. Schindler had also saved three hundred women and children after eight hundred men were shipped in boxcars bound for Burnitz, the women and children were supposed to join them, but they were mistakenly routed to Auschwitz instead. Schindler rescued the women and children and they are sent to Brunnlitz.

Death

Upon his death from heart and liver problems in 1974, he was granted his request to be buried in Israel(“Oskar Schindler Biography”). About five hundred Schindlerjuden( “Schindler’s Jews”) attended his funeral and watched as his body was laid to rest in the Catholic cemetery on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Thanks to Oskar Schindler, more than six thousand Holocaust survivors and their descendants were alive in the 1990s to tell the remarkable story of “Schindler’s List”(“Oskar Schindler Biography”). “Schindler died in Hildesheim in Germany October 9, 1974. He wanted to be buried in Jerusalem. As he said: My children are here ..” (Bürlow)Conclusion

Oskar Schindler had saved more than six thousand Holocaust survivors and their descendants. Schindler had many turning points in his life and he had made many wrong choices but that didn’t define who he was. At a time of his life, he was against the Jews and he had joined Hitler, but know he is remembered as being a hero. Yes, Oskar Schindler is a man worth knowing.

Works Cited

1. Crowe, D. M. (2004). Oskar Schindler: The untold account of his life, wartime activities, and the true story behind the list. Da Capo Press.
2. Gilbert, M. (1983). The holocaust: A history of the Jews of Europe during the Second World War. Henry Holt and Company.
3. Keneally, T. (1982). Schindler’s list. Simon & Schuster.
4. Loeffler, J. K. (2007). The Oskar Schindler story. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing.
5. Meltzer, M. (2004). Rescue: The story of how gentiles saved Jews in the Holocaust. HarperCollins.
6. Petri, D. W. (1994). The Czech and Slovak Republics: Nation versus state. Westview Press.
7. Ringelblum, E., & Gutterman, B. (1992). Polish-Jewish relations during the Second World War. Northwestern University Press.
8. Schindler, E., & Leyson, L. (2007). The boy on the wooden box. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
9. Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Schindler's list [Motion picture]. Universal Pictures.
10. Wistrich, R. S. (2001). Who's who in Nazi Germany. Routledge.