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Oskar Schindler by Elisardojm from

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Oskar Schindler

German industrialist Oskar Schindler is known for providing work in his factories to at least 1,200 Jews during World War II, thus sparing their lives. The son of Johann Hans Schinder and Franziska Schindler, Oskar Schindler was born on April 28th, 1908, in Zwittau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary.

He attended technical college after high school, followed by a number of other trade jobs. In order to become a spy, Oskar joined a party that supported the Nazis. After serving in the Czech army for 18 months, he spent the next seven years working for a bank in Prague. 

Here are 10 interesting facts you need to know about this warrior. 

1. At first his initial plan was not to save Jews 

Jews were initially more affordable than Polish labour, therefore he hired them for the factory. He soon developed sincere remorse for them. He shielded them by saying they were necessary for his factory. He frequently bought off Nazi authorities.

Nazi police began ejecting Jews from their houses, executing them on the streets, and transferring them to death camps. Through his network, Schindler established camps for the Jewish employees inside his plant.

2. He was detained twice for bribery 

Oskar Schindler designed spaces for sleeping, eating, and relaxing. For his involvement in the black market and his bribe-taking, he was detained twice. He was eventually freed both times after a few days.

Additionally, he was temporarily held because he kissed a Jewish girl on the cheek. He went to Budapest in 1943. He informed the Jewish resistance movement of the Nazi brutality.

3. He made a list of 1200 workers that he would save

Oskar Schindler by

Beginning in 1944, the Russian army began shutting down enterprises in Germany’s eastern regions and transporting the Jewish employees to extermination camps.

To move his factory to the community of Brunnlitz, Schindler exploited his connections and bribes. A list of 1200 employees who needed to be moved to the new location was made by him. He was able to save most of the hundreds of them who were apprehended and transferred to Gross-Rosen and Auschwitz.

4. He was afraid of being prosecuted as a war criminal

Nazi Swastika Flags by Adam Jones from

After the war, Oskar Schindler escaped the Russians by running. He had residences in various German cities. Due to his ties to the Nazi Party, he was concerned about being tried as a war criminal. Several people’s testimonials that attested to his participation in defending Jews saved him.

He relocated to Argentina in 1949, setting up a farm and raising livestock there. In 1958, he returned to Germany. He launched a lot of businesses, but they failed. The remainder of his life was spent surviving on gifts that Jewish groups sent to him.

5. Though married, he had many affairs with different women

Emilie Schindler by Dr. José Rosenberg from Wikimedia Commons

Oskar Schindler wed Emilie Pelzl in 1928. She participated actively in the rescue efforts as well. Despite frequently splitting up their lives, he remained married to her his entire life. He had numerous liaisons with different women. With his high school buddy Aurelie Schlegel, he had two children: Oskar Jr. and Emily.

6. A movie made about him won seven academy awards

Liam Neeson by Georges Biard from

A number of German, Austrian, and American directors intended to make movies based on Schindler, but those ideas never materialized.

Thomas Keneally, an Australian author, wrote Schindler’s Ark in 1982. The 1993 movie Schindler’s List was directed by Steven Spielberg. Seven Oscars were won by it. Liam Neeson portrayed the main character.

7. He was expelled from school

After finishing his early studies, Oskar enrolled on a technical school. During his primary and secondary school years, Oskar was an uninterested student. He was expelled from school in 1924 after being caught faking a report card when he was only 16 years old.

Later, he was permitted to return and finish his coursework, and even though he was permitted to graduate, he did not pass the prerequisite exams necessary for admission to a university-level program of study. As an alternative, he worked for his father and attended numerous technical classes at trade schools.

8. Jews lived in the Ghetto and worked in Schindler’s factories

Krakow Ghetto by Unknown author from

Only those who worked in sectors crucial to the German war effort were permitted to stay after an order was issued in August 1940 requesting the departure of the 60–80 thousand Jews living in Krakow.

The Krakow Ghetto, a walled portion of the city situated in an industrial district, was where the surviving Jews in Krakow—an estimated 15,000—were transferred in March 1941.

Jewish employees of Schindler’s factory lived in the Ghetto and commuted daily on foot. Out of the roughly 1,600 people working for Schindler at the time, about 1,000 of them were Jews. In addition to a medical clinic, food options, and bigger workspaces, Schindler increased the amenities his business offered staff members. Additionally, he expanded the office.

9. The spouses and families of his employees were protected by 

Oskar Schindler was openly defending the Jewish workers he employed and their families as much as he could by 1943 and 1944 when the lists were being put together.

He felt that wives and children were crucial to the welfare of his employees and frequently included them as employees by name. His employment rolls contained 1,750 people in July 1944, with around 1,000 of them being Jews. He relied on his connections to help him, particularly Wilhelm Canaris, the Abwehr chief.

10. Emilie, Schindler’s wife, assisted him in defending his employees

After the final German offensive on the Western Front failed in January 1945, Emilie was guarding trainloads of Jews headed for Auschwitz by hiding them within the armaments complex at Brunnlitz.

In the winter of 1945, even as the Soviet armies were learning about the extermination camps, workers at factories and mines who the Nazis thought unfit were sent to the east to be slaughtered.

Along with Oskar, Emilie bribed officials with illicit products, diamonds, gold, and other treasures as the Soviets closed in. As the German government fell, Nazi officials looking to flee Europe and the repercussions of their crimes were more and more vulnerable. Schindler also understood that as a former member

Oskar and Emilie were both recognized in 1993 by the State of Israel as Righteous Among the Nations. Only Oskar Schindler, a member of the German Nazi Party, is buried in Jerusalem’s Mount Zion.