Who Was Oskar Schindler?

Although he was famously seen as a womanizer with a drinking problem, there is much more to the story of Oskar Schindler than his habits. His marriage to Emilie Schindler may have been damaged, although she has been stated has forgiven him in her later years, but Schindler is most well-known for saving nearly 1,200 Jewish people from a terrible fate during World War II.

Those Jewish people who were employed by Oskar Schindler during the Second World War were said to have saved his life as much as he theirs. When he went to Poland in 1939, Schindler had acquired an enamelware factory. At the height of his success there, he had over 1,700 workers, and 1,000 of these workers were Jewish. However, he began to save these workers instead of merely employing them.

Before the second world war, Oskar Schindler gained experience as a German spy. So, over the course of the war, Schindler used his powerful political connections and experience to bribe Nazi officers to prevent his Jewish workers from being deported and ultimately killed. The Jewish people that Oskar Schindler saved throughout the war were said to be on what is known as "Schindler's List."

Interestingly enough, there was no single list that Schindler's administrative office used. There were nine separate lists, and Schindler himself did not oversee the details of the list as, at the time, he had been incarcerated under suspicion of bribery. Even though Schindler himself did not write or also tend to the list, he is responsible for the list's creation. Even as a person who was then a member of the Nazi party, Oskar Schindler knew that he had to turn around and do the right thing and save over 1,000 lives.

After the war, Schindler did not have much left at all. He had used his 4-million-mark fortune to save as many Jewish lives as he could from a horrific fate, he lived in West Germany for a time, receiving both financial assistance from Jewish relief funds as well as death threats from former Nazi party members. To escape, he lived in South America for a time with his wife, mistress, and a few "Schindler Jews" saved with his infamous list.

When Oskar Schindler declared bankruptcy in the early 1960s, he was honored by the State of Israel. Despite dying a decade later, he was and is highly honored in Jerusalem for his incredible commitment to helping Jewish people during the war. Taking a visit to the Schindler Museum in Krakow, Poland will help you truly understand the selfless impact made by Oskar Schindler.