A
film based on the true story of Oskar
Schindler, a Sudeten-German industrialist
who moved east to Krakow, Poland at the
outbreak of World War II
 Moved
 Saved
to Krakow to seek his fortune
the lives of 1,200 Jews by employing
them in his factories
 The
film follows him as he rises above
his love of money to risk his own life
and possessions, eventually losing his
fortune, as he secretly works to save
the lives of his Jewish factory workers,
the names of whom appear on
Schindler’s List
 Schindler
is recognized as a “Righteous
Gentile”

Moral non-Jewish people
 Honored
in Israel
by the national Holocaust Museum

Krakow was at one time the political and
cultural center of Poland

Is known to have a thriving Jewish population
(since 13th century)

In the 1930’s, Krakow’s 60,000 Jews made up
25% of its population

3,000 Krakovian Jews survived the war

Today, between 500 and 1,000 Jews live in
Krakow (average age is 75)
In
Krakow, many of the
Jewish sites from the 14th
century, the Old Synagogue,
and parts of the 1941 ghetto
wall still remain.

On Sept. 6, 1939, the Nazis occupied Krakow.
Persecution of the 60,000 Jews began shortly
thereafter.

On Oct. 26, Krakow became the capital of the
Generalgouvernment

On Nov. 28, a Jewish Council (Judenrat) was
officially established to carry out Nazi orders

On Dec. 5 & 6, the Germans terrorized Jewish
quarters and burned down a number of
synagogues.
In
May 1940, Jews began to
be driven out of Krakow. The
forced labor camp at Plaszow
was established on the site
of two Jewish cemeteries in
late 1940.
 By
March 1941, more than 40,000 Jews were
forced to leave Krakow. All of their property
was taken from them.
 Those
who remained were forced to live in a
special part of the city called a ghetto
 By
late 1941, 18,000 Jews, including
thousands from nearby cities, were forced
into the ghetto
The
sending of people from
the ghetto to AuschwitzBirkenau and Belzec
execution camps started in
May
 Jews
who worked as slave labor in factories
in and out of the ghetto were sent to
Plaszow (in a subarb of Krakow).
 Although
the number of prisoners varied, by
the end of 1943, there were 12,000
prisoners at the camp.
 Amon
Goeth, one of the five men who served
as camp commander, held this position from
February 1943 to September 1944
 In
January, Plaszow became a
concentration camp, and 600 SS men
replaced the Ukrainian guards.
 During
May and June, the number of
prisoners at Plaszow increased to
between 22,000 and 24,000. A total of
150,000 prisoners passed through the
camp. 80,000 were killed there.
 As
the Soviet Army neared Plaszow during
the summer of 1944, the Nazis attempted to
remove all traces of their crimes by digging
up the mass graves and burning the bodies.
 Most
of the prisoners remaining were sent to
other concentration camps or execution
camps (as happens to Elie and his father in
Night).
The
last prisoners in Plaszow
were sent to AuschwitzBirkenau on January 14,
1945.
This
film is based on fact.
 During
the Holocaust, the slaughter of the
Jews by the Nazis, Jewish people lived with
the knowledge that they could be murdered
simply because they were Jews.
 No
excuse was needed for them
to be killed.
 However,
Jewish people did need an
excuse to be allowed to live. One way
was to be classified as an “essential
worker,” which meant that your trade
or skills were essential to the German
war effort.
 Thus,
being “essential workers” kept
Schindler’s Jews alive initially.
Schindler’s cleverness and skill saved
them later.
“Schindler’s List: A Viewer’s Guide” from the
Martyrs Memorial and Museum of the
Holocaust of the Jewish Federation, Los
Angeles, CA
Sponsor Agency: American Federation of
Teachers, Washington, D.C.
Published in 1994
Oskar Schindler
Amon Goeth
 As
you are watching this film, please maintain
an attitude of maturity and respect.
 After
all, this event really happened.
 You
will see images that hopefully make you
feel uncomfortable; deal with them in a
manner fitting of mature 16- and 17-year-old
students.
I
hope I don’t see anything inappropriate on
your part, but if you can’t handle watching this
film, you will be given something else to do
outside of the classroom.