A man once sacrificed his reputation, income, and security to the save the lives of

his “enemies.” This man, Oskar Schindler, was a Nazi factory owner who saved 1100
Jews from their demise when he realized the true intentions of the Nazi party. When he
was donating his entire income to benefit the Jews, ironically, he faced greater success
than when he was actually trying to make money with his failed business attempts. Oskar
Schindler deserves acclaim for having the morality to jump over the fence to rescue his
enemies.
Oskar Schindler faced failure in his early years. Schindler was born on April 28th,
1908 in Svitavia, Moravia, located in former Austria-Hungary, which is now the Czech
Republic. Schindler was brought up in a German family and remained a devout Roman
Catholic for his entire life. During the 1930’s, he switched professions several times, but
because of his failed business ventures and the effects of the Great Depression, he went
bankrupt. Even though Oskar Schindler was frequently plagued by failure, he would soon
become successful in the eyes of his enemies.
Many people wished to profit from Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939.
Because of the new laws established against Jews, former Jewish-owned factories were
soled to prospective entrepreneurs for very little money. Schindler, now a member of the
Separatist Sudeten German Party, purchased a Jewish enamelware factory in Krakow.
Itzhak Stern, his Jewish accountant, worked with him to get 1000 Jewish laborers to work
at his factory. Afterwards, he started to dip into his own personal income to safeguard his
factory workers by claiming that unskilled workers were needed in his factory. Oskar
Schindler continued to keep his factory workers safe from the crematoriums.
After the war, Oskar Schindler helped 120 Jewish men evacuate from the
Goleszow camp via a sealed train. Schindler then arranged for the non-survivors to be
buried according to Jewish tradition. After which, he departed to Germany as he was
recovering from bankruptcy. Then, assisted by several Jewish relief organizations and
Holocaust survivors, he moved to South America. He traveled to Israel thirteen times
since 1961, frequently greeted by “Schindler Jews.”
Oskar Schindler died on October 9th, 1974 in the town of Hildesheim at the age of
sixty-six, with his remains buried in Jerusalem. Schindler is survived by his wife, Emilie
Schindler. Preceding his death, Yad Vashem awarded Schindler with the “Righteous
Among the Nations” award in 1963 at a Holocaust memorial. Pope Paul VI awarded
Schindler with the Order of St. Sylvester in 1968. Schindler also received the German
Federal Cross of Merit in the 1960’s. After his death, in 1993, the United States
Holocaust Memorial Council presented the Museum’s “Medal of Remembrance” in
honor of Schindler. The story of Schindler’s Jews is retold in the movie Schindler’s List.
Oskar Schindler was an often overlooked humanitarian. Schindler was a Nazi
factory owner who saved 1100 Jews from their demise when he realized the true
intentions of the Nazi party. Schindler was a philanthropist who understood the plights of
his supposed enemies, the Jews.