Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Schindler’s List, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Virtue and Selflessness
Anti-Semitism and Dehumanization
Power
Duty
Bureaucracy
Summary
Analysis
Schindler is sitting in Goeth’s office with Madritsch and Bosch for what Goeth describes as a security conference. The Russians are advancing, encouraging resistance among Polish partisans and Jews. Goeth says they may even attack Płaszów. Bosch and Schindler joke that if partisans come for Goeth, they aren’t there visiting him.
Goeth once again uses bad judgment by trusting Schindler and Madritsch. Perhaps Goeth is hoping to manipulate them. Even Bosch, who is more loyal, seems to recognize that distancing himself from Goeth may be a good idea.
Themes
As Schindler drives Goeth back down from the villa, he sees cattle cars full of Jewish people. He notices that they are hot, and that the people inside are thirsty. Pretending to joke, he asks Goeth if it would be okay to bring out a fire brigade. Goeth tolerates Schindler’s eccentricity because it amuses him. Schindler proceeds to call a fire brigade that hoses down every car. He even bribes an SS official to open the cattle car doors when the train stops at stations (Two survivors of the trip will confirm this actually happened.) Later, Goeth will comment to Schindler that he should relax and not go running after every trainload that leaves.
What’s perhaps most amazing about Goeth’s affection for Schindler is that he has fairly clear evidence of Schindler’s sympathy for the Jewish prisoners. Schindler’s joke about bringing a fire brigade is clearly not a joke, but because he maintains a jovial mood, Goeth goes along with it simply because he doesn’t want to spoil the fun. The fact that the SS officials honor their bribe and actually do open the cattle cars at stops (even though Schindler isn’t around to verify this) provides yet another example of the strange way that Nazis interpret concepts like duty.
Themes
Garde, Schindler’s engineer, also notices a change in him. He notices Schindler paying close attention to the radio, particularly about the receding German Fronts. One night, he listens to the German radio station (instead of his usual BBC) because he’s heard there’s been an attempt on Hitler’s life. The official story is that Hitler survived, but Schindler continues to listen with Garde. Just after 1 a.m., however, Schindler and Garde are disappointed to hear Hitler himself on the radio.
Schindler senses—or at least hopes—that the end of the war is coming, and this encourages him to be a little bolder. Though the Nazis control the German radio stations, even they would have a hard time containing the news if Hitler really died.
Themes
Rumors come to Cracow that the camps like Płaszów might be disbanded. In fact, Schindler learns that his security meeting with Goeth wasn’t really about partisans but about the upcoming closure. In fact, Goeth is only using the partisans as a pretext so that he can once again get permission to take summary action against prisoners as he pleases.
The disbanding of Płaszów may sound like a good thing for prisoners, but in fact, it really means that they’d be sent off on a dangerous train journey, perhaps to a new camp where they’d be treated even worse. In this way, Jewish prisoners can’t win, as escaping one bad situation might land them in an even worse situation.
Themes
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Schindler senses Goeth is also worried about Chilowicz, his Jewish camp police chief who knows the black market well. If Chilowicz is transferred to another camp, he could use his knowledge of Goeth’s black market rackets to cause trouble. Goeth gets an aide to approach Chilowicz and pretend to offer an escape deal, which Chilowicz accepts because he’s uneasy too. In fact, however, Goeth has arranged it so that Chilowicz will be caught, and now that he has a justification, he executes Chilowicz and several of his companions.
The case of Chilowicz mirrors that of the Spiras. It is the very power that Chilowicz wields in the camp that makes him vulnerable, because his role gives him more knowledge of Goeth’s business than most.
Themes
Goeth writes reports about how he put down a growing insurgency in Płaszów. As he’s drafting the report, he accuses his typist Pemper of being involved with the Chilowicz “escape” plan. Pemper replies that his pants leg is unsewn and that he couldn’t possibly pass on the outside with that sort of clothing. This answer seems to satisfy Goeth—for the time being.
Goeth wants to use the supposed threat of an uprising to his own advantage, as an excuse to implement more repressive measures in the camp.
Themes
As Pemper is leaving, however, Goeth asks him to leave an extra blank space below the list of insurgents. He suspects the space is for his own name. After debating what to do for a long time, he finally completes the letter with the space. As it turns out, however, the space is for an old man who is rumored to have hidden a large cache of diamonds somewhere outside the camp. Goeth asks the old man for the location of the diamonds in exchange for his life, then executes him anyway.
Even someone with close access to Goeth, like Pemper, can’t interpret the real meaning behind the commandant’s words. Though Goeth has reason to worry about Pemper, he’s more interested in chasing diamonds, which would bring him more immediate wealth and glory. Goeth’s execution of the old man is yet another example of how the Nazis view Jewish people’s lives as trivial and disposable, so much so that even those who cooperate may be killed for no reason.
Themes
