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 celebrates his 37th birthday on a Shabbat with all the prisoners. The day is festive, despite the fact that recently a telegram went from Hassebroeck to Liepold giving instructions to eliminate large portions of the Jewish population, should the Russians come near. The prisoners don’t yet know the specifics of this telegram, but they have still heard troubling rumors.
Perhaps it’s just coincidence, but the 37th chapter of the book coincides with Schindler’s 37th year, which will prove to be one of the most important years of his life. Shabbat is a joyful time, but although Schindler has some reason to celebrate his success at Brinnlitz so far, but the rumors that prisoners are hearing suggest that the last stretch of the war will be perilous.
Themes
In fact, Liepold himself hasn’t seen the telegram. Pemper intercepts it and brings the news straight to Schindler, who says “All right then. We have to say goodbye to Untersturmführer Liepold.” They know Liepold is the only SS man in the camp who is fanatical enough to calmly order the death of 1,300 people.
Schindler recognizes that a bureaucracy is only effective when the individual members carry out their duties, and that the orders to liquidate his camp will only be carried out if a fundamentalist like Liepold is overseeing things.
Themes
In the days before his birthday, Schindler secretly lodges complaints to Hassebroeck about Liepold. He makes similar charges about Liepold to Rasch. He shows them both letters he’s written to General Glücks in Oranienburg. It’s a bold move—Schindler is hoping they’ll transfer Liepold without bothering to investigate too much.
Though the Nazi surveillance apparatus is used to instill fear and command obedience, it also creates a state of paranoia that men like Schindler can exploit.
Themes
Schindler collects more evidence against Liepold by inviting him to dinner at his apartment. He gets Liepold drunk, which causes Liepold to threaten to execute his workers. Schindler then reports that Liepold has made immediate threats of execution to Hassebroeck, who, in spite of being responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews, still agrees with Schindler’s logic that his labor should be protected until the Russians arrived. Schindler says Liepold has told him he’d like to go into combat, and Hassebroeck tells Schindler he’ll see what can be done.
Hassebroeck is an unlikely ally to Schindler, but Schindler knows how to emphasize the points of disagreement between Liepold and Hassebroeck. Hassebroeck is less zealous than Liepold and sees no particular reason to protect the commandant instead of Schindler.
Themes
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On his birthday, Schindler makes a speech promising the prisoners continued life. SS officers and German civilian personnel are present for the speech, and some, like Pfefferberg, worry that they’ll shoot Schindler for what he’s saying. Though Schindler seems oblivious, he is quietly concerned about what the SS guards might do if things get desperate.
Schindler’s speech is a bold move, but it may also be strategic—the Germans are every bit as much his audience as the Jews are. Schindler needs their cooperation to ensure that they won’t go rogue at the end of the war.
Themes
Within two days of Schindler’s birthday, Liepold gets orders transferring him to an SS infantry battalion near Prague. He goes without raising any complaints, and because Liepold used to brag about his desire to go into combat when he got drunk, no one finds the transfer unusual.
Liepold’s sense of pride prevents him from refusing a chance to serve on the front lines—and Schindler knew he’d be too proud to lodge a complaint.
Themes
Schindler does not passively wait for the end. In May, he gets a tip about an abandoned warehouse and goes to raid it. He is frightened by reports that Russians are executing German citizens without asking questions but doesn’t let it paralyze him. Finally he hears the news from the BBC that Germany has surrendered and the war in Europe will stop on May 8th.
Based on all the plans he’s making, Schindler increasingly seems to be preparing for a life after the war. Yet it becomes clear that Schindler is at risk of being targeted for being German, and particularly for being a former Nazi.
Themes
Schindler celebrates by totally breaking the charade that he’s running a business and blasting Churchill’s victory speech throughout the camp. The SS in the camp aren’t sure what to do, but a sense of duty keeps them at their posts.
Germany’s defeat makes it safer for Schindler to be open about his sympathy for his prisoners. He knows that the SS guards at his camp are generally not fundamentalists and are therefore not interested in staging some sort of last stand.
Themes
Using materials at hand, some of the prisoners prepare makeshift gifts for Schindler. Schindler gathers the prisoners on the factory floor. The Germans haven’t left yet, though they are making escape plans. Unlike Schindler’s birthday speech, this one is recorded in shorthand by two prisoners (though those present will say that the themes of the two speeches were similar).
Those in attendance can tell that they’re living in a pivotal moment in history, which is why a transcript of Schindler’s speech survives. This reverence makes it clear that although Schindler was, in many ways, an ordinary man who saved a relatively small number of people, his efforts still mattered immensely to those he saved.
Themes
Parts of Schindler’s speech are directed to the SS garrison. He invites them to leave and asks the prisoners to let them. Schindler talks about his own experience, getting nostalgic but perhaps also trying to distance himself from figures like Goeth and Hassebroeck.
Schindler’s appeals to the SS are strategic—though he may genuinely believe in mercy, he also knows that any sort of armed conflict could lead to his prisoners being killed.
Themes
After touching on several themes, Schindler finally thanks the SS garrison for being so humane, despite what they were asked to do. Some prisoners are aghast at this, but Schindler sees his speech as a tactical way to prevent the SS from becoming combatants. Schindler ends his speech with three minutes of silence.
Schindler risks upsetting his prisoners because he knows he already has their trust. They aren’t used to seeing this side of him, but in fact, Schindler has spent a great deal of the war flattering men who participated in some truly evil acts.
Themes
