Schindler's List by Thomas Kenealy
Summary:
Schindler's List
Oskar
Schindler was born in 1908 in a small industrial town of Zwittau in the
Sudetan region. His father owned a farm machinery plant and so Oskar
was trained to be an engineer. He was raised as a Catholic but was
never that religious, he even played with his Jewish neighbors as a
child. After working as a sales manager at an electricity company, he
then joined the Nazi party.
September
1939 was when everything began; German forces defeated the Polish Army
in just 2 weeks. Jews were ordered to register all members of family
and relocate to major cities, more than 10,000 Jews from the
countryside arrived in Krakow daily. Oskar came to Krakow with nothing
but that all changed. The Judenrat was known, as the Jewish Council
comprised of 24 elected Jews personally responsive for carrying out the
orders of regime in Krakow, such as drawing up lists for work details,
food, and housing. Schindler obtained contracts through the Nazi
connections, which brought him huge profits. Working through the Nazis
he learned how to manipulate to his own good fortune. He then hired a
very smart Jewish accountant named Itzhak Stern, to employ Jewish
workers from 45 to 250. He helped Jews seem like they are useful and
good workers so they can save their lives and work with Oskar. March
20,1941 was the deadline for entering the ghetto which was only 16
blocks. Thatâs when Oskar built a bankruptcy manufactory company.
Then all Jews were to be deported to a concentration camp, liquidation
of the ghetto, March 13,1943. Then Schindler goes to complain to Amon
Geoth and other Nazis, about his Jewish workers gone, saying thatâs
nothing but bad business and that they are his. Metal workers factory
inside Plaszow forced labor camps. Oskar then celebrated his birthday,
which was thrown a party with the Nazi Party, where he kissed a Jewish
girl who brought him a cake. He got arrested but let out right away.
Chujowa Gorka, April 1944 he wakes up and goes outside and notices its
raining ashes everywhere. Department D ordered Geoth to exhume and
incinerate the bodies of more than 10,000 Jews killed at Plaszow and
Krakow Ghetto Masacre. Prisoners were treated horrible and shot for
nothing. They had to carry out dead bodies and throw them into the
flames. Schindler gets very angry about all the madness, because he had
to get rid of all his workers and Geoth talks about shipping all Jews.
Schindler then goes and compromised with the Nazis to buy his Jews back
and for good business. Stern and Oskar work together to protect as much
Jews as possible. Then his Jews he bought were brought to
Zwittau-Brinnlitz, Czech Oslovakia his hometown. But only the boys and
men were brought because there was a paperwork mistake. Oskar then
found out that all women were taken to Auschwitz. Then The "Final
Solution" was coming close so he went to the camp and demanded and
paid for his women. While the women were saved getting into the train
the SS soldiers tried to get all the girls but, thatâs when Oskar
arrived and told them they are all his and great workers. So he used
his wealth to buy over 1,100 workers. For the seven months the factory
was fully operational, Schindlerâs Brinnlitz munitions factory was a
model of non-production. During that time he spent millions of
Reichmarks to sustain his workers and bribe Reich officials. Then
finally the war was announced over, after 6 long years. And the army
was after all Nazis, and he was one but a good one. So his workers made
a letter talking about how good of a man he was. He thought he could
have saved more Jews and wished he could have, but 1,100 Jews were
alive because of him. Later on in his life he didnât succeed with
business or marriage but was appreciated so much by the people he
affected. In 1958 he was declared a righteous person and received the
honor to grow a tree in the Avenue of righteous. He then died in 1974,
and is still remembered today.
