Oskar Schindler Biography

  • Oskar Schindler's birth

    Oskar Schindler's birth
    Schindler was born on April 28, 1908.
  • Early life

    Early life
    When he was younger, Schindler attended many schools from the Brno area. In 1928, he married Emille Pelzl.
  • The German Armed Forces

    The German Armed Forces
    In 1936, he began working with Amt Auslands/Abwehr (Office of the military Foreign Intelligence) of the German Armed Forces.
  • The joining of the Nazis

    The joining of the Nazis
    In 1939, Schindler joined the Nazi Party.
  • The WWII Jew Rescuer

    The WWII Jew Rescuer
    During WWII, Schindler rescued more than 1,000 Jews from the concentration camp of Auschwitz, which was known as the largest camp in the world that killed Jews.
  • After the Invasion

    After the Invasion
    After the Germans invaded Poland, he moved to Krakow in October 1939. He started two businesses but only at one of his places, Emalia, employed Jewish workers who lived in the ghetto.
  • Emalia - Jewish worksite

    Emalia - Jewish worksite
    At one point in its existence, there were 1,700 workers and about 1,000 of them were Jewish working in his buisness.
  • Suspicion of Schindler's acts towards jews

    Suspicion of Schindler's acts towards jews
    Due to Schindler's protecting of the Jews, the police authorities and the SS started to get suspicious. This suspicion soon lead to Schindler getting arrested 3 times. He still owned Emalia because the police authorities could not find a way to charge him.
  • After the War

    After the War
    Schindler and his wife moved to Regensburg, Germany, after the war, where they remained until 1949. In 1949, they then decided to move to Argentina.
  • His death

    His death
    He passed away in Germany in October of 1974. He was almost known as your everyday-average person (unnoticed by society) and poor. After he passed, the U.S. holocaust Memorial Council awarded him with a medal. He was awarded the museum's medal of Rememberance.