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
Some Jews, like the musicians the Rosner brothers, move to a Polish village called Tyniec. They continue to play music, and at one point they play for a rich party that includes Nazis. Afterwards, a middle-aged SS officer approaches them and says, “I hope you have a nice harvest holiday.” They realize this is a threat. They decide the best option is to return to Cracow.
The Rosner brothers’ situation show how Poland was a precarious place for its Jewish residents, even outside the major urban areas like Cracow. Although the Nazis favor them and treat them better than they treat other Jewish people, they could turn on the Rosners at any moment. Keeping Jewish people on-edge and uncertain of their futures is one way in which the Nazis establish a position of superiority.
Themes
Meanwhile, Emilie goes back home, and the next time Stern visits Schindler, Ingrid is back. Stern tells Schindler that stories are going around about him being a “German gangster.” Schindler assures them that this is just a business rivalry and argues that he’s the one who’s being taken advantage of.
Schindler will constantly face the threat of being denounced by people around him, which is part of why he forms connections with so many people—so he has friends to call on if any of these denunciations ever get him into legal trouble.
Themes
Later in the evening, Stern tells Schindler about the imprisonment of Marek Biberstein, who had been president of the Judenrat until his arrest. Biberstein had tried to be a buffer between the Germans and the local Jews. Eventually, the Judenrat started letting the wealthy buy their way off forced-labor lists, but even still, they were better regarded than the Judenrat in many other cities.
The Judenrat occupy a unique position in Cracow, where they have more authority than the average Jewish citizen but are still under the Nazis’ control. Many try to use their authority for good, but this turns out to be difficult.
Themes
Initially, the Judenrat is made up of 24 men, primarily intellectuals. As the leader, Biberstein believes that Jews expelled from Cracow will be worse off, so he uses bribery to try to prevent this as much as possible. In particular he bribes a man named Reichert, who has contacts in the SS. Eventually, the scheme is found out, and both Biberstein and Reichert are jailed. Schindler says Reichert is a crook, but Stern replies that at sometimes, the only option left is to do business with crooks, which amuses Schindler.
Stern’s observation that sometimes the only option is to do business with crooks will be proven right time and again throughout the novel. Schindler learns that his own survival will often depend heavily on the cooperation of men with dubious morals.
Themes
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