Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory

A humbling visit to this landmark. A reminder that during bad times, there are decent people

I 🖤 KRAKÓW Oskar Schindler was a German enterpreneur and a member of the Nazi party, NSDAP. He is credited with saving approximately 1100 Jews by employing them in his factories (so that they could avoid horrible living conditions and eventually death in the Nazi labor camps) – one of them located in Krakow, in the area of today’s Zabłocie district.Originally various enamelware objects were produced in the Schindler's factory; later on Schindler decided to also produce mess kits and ammunition shells for the Germans as he wanted to make sure that the factory would be regarded as an essential part of the war effort.Encouraged by his Jewish accountant to use Jews for labor, Schindler wound up sheltering an increasing number of Jewish workers as the Nazis forced them out of their jobs and into ghettos and, ultimately, forced labor camps.His story became well-known to the public thanks to the popular Steven Spielberg's movie, Schindler's list (1993), where Schindler was portrayed by Liam Neeson.I was in particularly intrigued by the display of Schindler's factory office, including his hulking wooden desk and creaking wood floors. This room also includes a display called "Survivors' Ark," a mountain of thousands of pieces of enameled pots of the type once manufactured in the factory, enclosed in a towering glass case.That Schindler was transformed from calculating businessman to humanitarian is amazing, and his acts of heroism in a time of brutality should not be diminished. Still, I did not find a visit to this museum an uplifting experience. There simply is too much sadness encased here, and in juxtaposition to the millions of Jews and others who were dehumanized and exterminated by the Nazis, the 1100 lives saved by Schindler seem mere grains of sand on a vast beach.

An interactive museum that records Krakow during the Nazi occupation of World War II

It has now been converted into a museum, showing the life of Jews before and after World War II, which is worth a look.