Oscar Schindler
As occupied Poland was experiencing the Holocaust, Oskar Schindler, took his first steps from the darkness of Nazism towards the light of heroism.
Prior to the war, Poland had been a relative haven for European Jews. Krakow's Jewish population numbered over 50,000. When Germany invaded, Jews were gathered up, beaten and slaughtered. Jewish property and businesses were appropriated by the Nazis were sold to sympathizers, one of whom was the fast talking, womanizing, Oskar Schindler.
Schindler's Nazi connections allowed him to acquired a factory run with Jewish slave camp labor. Schindler witnessed a Nazi raid on the Jewish ghetto, and saw Jews being packed onto death trains. He vowed to defeat the system and used his influence to set up a camp for 900 Jewish workers in his factory. Schindler’s List contained the workers he referred to as “Schindlerjuden” or "my children." He was forever honored by Israel for the many lives he saved.
