Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory

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What do you do when an occupying force moves into your beautiful city?  You resist, of course.  Just how mightily the Poles resisted Nazi occupation was made abundantly clear to me at Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory.

It was a damp morning in Kraków, but I didn’t want to waste one of my few remaining days in the city.  I had an imperfect understanding of the location of Schindler’s Factory, but I alighted from the tram, south of the river, and began my search.  I knew that I was in the right vicinity when I entered a huge square, full of sculpted seats and a sad photographic display in black and white. Plac Bohaterów Getta (Ghetto Heroes Square) commemorates the Polish Jews who were imprisoned and died in the Kraków Ghetto between 1941 and 1943.

Oskar Schindler was a Nazi party member and a war profiteer, who earned the gratitude of 1100 Jews by giving them a second chance at life.  It is a remarkable story and one that touches me deeply.

The museum is a little off the beaten track, and my map reading skills sadly lacking, so I went inside the tiny art gallery on the square. The proprietor kindly gave me precise instructions (in English!) and I found my way around the excavations and building work to Ul. Lipowa.  It was raining steadily and I fell into step with a young Polish couple with an umbrella, who were also going to the museum. It being Monday, admission was free from 10-2.00pm, and understandably the museum was busy.  Initially I was a little confused by the layout, and the number of students clustered around, but once I found the correct door I was hooked.

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Just a handful of the former workers saved by Oskar Schindler’s intervention.  The museum takes you through the years 1939-45, starting with life before the war.  Then comes German occupation, with its restrictions and consequences.  People are evicted from their homes with nothing but a few personal possessions.  A curfew is imposed and it becomes necessary to queue for hours to obtain the most basic food.  Polish secondary schools and universities are closed.  The Polish press is liquidated.  Any figure of influence or authority is regarded as a threat and dealt with accordingly.  The use of home radio sets is forbidden.  Loud hailers broadcast propaganda twice daily, and eventually the names of those sentenced to death.  Inexorably the rounding up of the Jews into the ghetto begins.

And the Polish response to this?  ‘Secret’ schools conducted in defiance, though involvement was punishable by death or consignment to a concentration camp.  An underground press and formation of a resistance movement to sabotage German efforts wherever possible.  The gallery below features a ‘secret’ teacher and messages from pupils.  The first face reminds me so much of photographs I have seen, from that era, of a deceased family member.  Many stories, both of pathos and of heroism, are featured throughout the museum.

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Up concrete stairs to the first floor, the museum really comes to life, introducing a pre-war Kraków photographic studio and a cast of characters. Before the war Jews accounted for over 25% of the community, and both Christians and Jews sat together on the City Council.

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A narrow corridor leads to the Stereoscope- a device used for looking at individual stereoscopic photos.  They rotate inside a drum, giving the illusion of three-dimensionality.  This one dates back to the late 19th century.  It was a revelation.

On 1st September, 1939 war broke out, and on 6th September the Nazis entered Kraków. The Wehrmacht flag flew over the sacred site of Wawel, and from the outset the prohibitions and orders began.  Jewish shops had to be marked, and were plundered by the Germans, and all Jews over the age of 12 had to wear armbands with the Star of David on the right arm.  Racial segregation had begun.

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And then the nightmare of the Ghetto.  Intimidation, round-ups in the streets, imprisonment and interrogation in the Gestapo HQ on Ul. Pomorska and the prison at 7 Ul. Montelupich.  I read a few of the accounts of life in the ghetto, and the tram that ran through but didn’t stop.  There were sympathisers, of course, like Tadeusz Pankiewicz and his staff at the Eagle Pharmacy, who smuggled letters and messages to and from the ghetto.

17,000 people were contained within the ghetto walls, where 250-300 calories was the daily allowance for a Jew.  Details of the resettlement can be found here.  I had not realised that the arched shapes of the ghetto walls were intentionally designed to resemble Jewish tombstones.  How sick!

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Residents worked both within and outside of the ghetto, the luckier ones at Oskar Schindler’s Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik- DEF. These were taken to and from work under armed escort.  If you were not fit to work you would eventually be deported to an annihilation camp.

Zabłocie was an industrial area, with successful factories dealing in wire, mesh and iron products, soap, and enamelware and metal products. During the war a production plant for aeroplane parts and radiators, a crate factory and a barrack builders were added. Schindler took over receivership of the enamelware company, which was in financial straits, and with the aid of Jewish capital set about expansion.  A munitions section was added, to make mess tins for the Wehrmacht, and shells and fuses for artillery and air missiles, to assist in the war effort.  Working conditions were hard, but by steadily increasing his Jewish labour force from the ghetto, Schindler saved around 1100 grateful souls.

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In Schindler’s office a glass cube designed by Michal Urban is the centrepiece.  It contains metal cylinders, inscribed with the names of the 1100.

He was no saint, Schindler.  Perhaps that makes his story all the more remarkable.  I have included links that will enlarge on the story if you are interested. The museum is over 3 floors, in the original factory building.  I found it to be charged with atmosphere.

The Historical Museum website brings together information on all of the Kraków museums.

120 comments

  3. This was a fascinating read, Jo and very moving. I’ve been contemplating watching Schindler’s List again and you may have given me the impetus to do it. (It’s one of those films that is amazing to watch but hard to bring yourself to watch again.)

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    1. In the museum you can pick and choose what to look at, Heather, so it’s probably much easier than the film. I tried to look for the good in it all. Unimaginable times, weren’t they?

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  4. wonderful post, Jo and very well written. yes, schindler was no saint but he was morally righteous. so very sad that there is so much hatred in our world, both then and now. 😦 thank you for sharing…

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  5. Brilliant read I have lost touch with your blog – partially because of my own infrequent blogging but also I think the feed has been adjusted – couple of people have mentioned not seeing everything – trust you are well off to catch up.

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  6. I’m sure it was both horribly sad and inspirational (for Schindler’s part in saving at least some Jews) to go through this museum. I’ve seen the movie, Schindler’s List, which was really powerful, though it’s been years since I’ve seen it. Thank you for taking us through this museum and sharing the history, Jo. We have The Holocaust Museum here in Washington which is very powerful as well, especially an exhibit that sounds similar to what you describe. It takes visitors through a normal middle class Polish home before the war, into the ghetto and the family’s ghetto quarters, and then into a cattle car, and then to one of the concentration camps. It really hits a person hard to follow in the footsteps of a Jewish family, from being fairly well off to becoming destitute in such squalor. You’re right in that Schindler was no saint, but at least his saving of a relatively large group of people (small in comparison to the entire genocide) shows that there is always goodness and evil in everyone. I’ll have to revisit our Holocaust Museum here and share some of it on my blog.

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    1. Thanks, Cathy. There were some wonderful stories as well as the more harrowing ones. I felt quite relieved to get back out into some weak sunshine, and the very nice wine bar close by.

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  11. Thank you for sharing this- I was not aware of the museum. The movie brought Schindler to life for many who had never heard of him. So moving, the metal cylinders engraved with the names. My husband’s maternal grandparents were fortunate to leave Poland in 1938 to come to the US, unfortunately his paternal grandparents perished at the hand of the Nazis. An important time in history to remember so that it should never happen again.

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    1. My Dad was taken from home to do forced labour in Germany, and his whole family disrupted by that war. It’s incredible to me how inhuman we can be, but there were some very inspirational people too. Thanks for reading.

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  12. Ein informativer Beitrag über dieses schlimme Kapitel der Geschichte, das die Nazis den Menschen angetan haben. Ich finde auch, dass man immer wieder darüber berichten soll und muss, damit kommende Generationen Menschen Kenntnis davon haben und sich so eine absurde Tat an Menschen nicht wiederholt. Hab eine frohe Zeit, Jo.

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  13. . .horrific Jo, and what I find so scary is that atrocities such as these continue to the modern day. Will the human race ever learn just to live and accept each other?

    Thank you so so much for sharing, a very moving post.

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    1. Pure evil is hard to understand, isn’t it, Becky? Difficult enough just getting along with each other day to day! (excepting you, of course 🙂 Oh, and I’d better include Robert 🙂 ) Thanks for reading, hon.

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  14. Dear Jo, I haven’t seen film, but now I am eager to know more about it, however, not sure I could handle emotionally it. It is such a sad part of this city I prefer not recalling, however, I know that you cannot hide from historic reality. A very well-written post that went through me like an electrical impulse…

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      1. So right, Jo, I am also trying to write happy posts, but sometimes cannot because it is not exactly…
        Hugs back! I love your every post, think about publishing a book with pictures, people would love it! Why not, everything is possible if you really want it! How about that? You have a light style of writing, it makes people want to read more! It is a unique feature! Remember it!

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      2. That’s a sweet thought, darlin, and thank you very much. 🙂 It is something I think about doing but I need a shove (and maybe a lot less blogging time 🙂 ) to get it done.

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    1. I’ve wanted to go for a number of years but the opportunity hasn’t really been there. Small hooray for rainy days 🙂 (the sun came out in the afternoon) Thanks for your company, Margi 🙂

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  18. He was indeed a very special man. I saw the movie ‘Schindlers List’ when it hit the cinemas (aaaaages ago) with Liam Neson as Schindler. A very good film.
    So sick about the archades, I’d never thought or heard of that either, that they where made like tombstones. Interesting post Jo, thanks for sharing.

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