Schindler’s List

Schindler’s List

by

Thomas Keneally

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Schindler’s List makes teaching easy.
Amon Goeth is a big, imposing man who was an early joiner of Germany’s National Socialist Party (the Nazis) and who becomes the commandant of the concentration camp called Płaszów, located near Cracow in Poland. He abuses his Jewish maid, Helen Hirsch, and is a sadistic, volatile leader who encourages summary executions in his camp (at least until new regulations come down from above). But Goeth is also friendly with Oskar Schindler and other industrialists in the camp, like Bosch and Madritsch, and he throws lavish parties at his villa. Despite his cruelty, Goeth also has a twisted sense of honor, and after Schindler wins Helen Hirsch over a hand of blackjack, Goeth honors their agreement. Goeth is about the same age as Schindler, and he has a similar penchant for drinking and pursuing women. But the superficial similarities between Goeth and Schindler only serve to highlight the deeper differences between them: Goeth is a man who abuses his power ruthlessly, whereas Schindler does everything in his power to treat people with mercy. Ultimately, Goeth’s drinking gets the best of him: after being arrested for his black-market dealings, he becomes sick in prison and withers away from diabetes. Captured by the U.S. Army, Goeth is shocked when Schindler testifies against him—in his delusion, he genuinely believed Schindler thought well of him. Goeth is eventually hanged for his war crimes.

Amon Goeth Quotes in Schindler’s List

The Schindler’s List quotes below are all either spoken by Amon Goeth or refer to Amon Goeth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Virtue and Selflessness Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

Not to stretch belief so early, the story begins with a quotidian act of kindness—a kiss, a soft voice, a bar of chocolate. Helen Hirsch would never see her 4,000 złoty again-not in a form in which they could be counted and held in the hand. But to this day she considers it a matter of small importance that Oskar was so inexact with sums of money.

Related Characters: Oskar Schindler, Itzhak Stern, Amon Goeth, Helen Hirsch/Lena
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

The first morning Commandant Goeth stepped out his front door and murdered a prisoner at random, there was a tendency to see this also, like the first execution on Chujowa Górka, as a unique event, discrete from what would become the customary life of the camp. In fact, of course, the killings on the hill would soon prove to be habitual, and so would Amon’s morning routine.

Related Characters: Oskar Schindler, Amon Goeth, Helen Hirsch/Lena
Page Number: 192
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

When Levartov and his wife came to the Emalia factory subcamp in the summer of ’43, he had to suffer what at first he believed to be Schindler’s little religious witticisms. On Friday afternoons, in the munitions hall of DEF where Levartov operated a lathe, Schindler would say, “You shouldn’t be here, Rabbi. You should be preparing for Shabbat.” But when Oskar slipped him a bottle of wine for use in the ceremonies, Levartov knew that the Herr Direktor was not joking. Before dusk on Fridays, the rabbi would be dismissed from his workbench and would go to his barracks behind the wire in the backyard of DEF. There, under the strings of sourly drying laundry, he would recite Kiddush over a cup of wine among the roof-high tiers of bunks. Under, of course, the shadow of an SS watchtower.

Related Characters: Oskar Schindler, Amon Goeth, Menasha Levartov
Page Number: 211
Explanation and Analysis:
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Schindler’s List PDF

Amon Goeth Quotes in Schindler’s List

The Schindler’s List quotes below are all either spoken by Amon Goeth or refer to Amon Goeth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Virtue and Selflessness Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

Not to stretch belief so early, the story begins with a quotidian act of kindness—a kiss, a soft voice, a bar of chocolate. Helen Hirsch would never see her 4,000 złoty again-not in a form in which they could be counted and held in the hand. But to this day she considers it a matter of small importance that Oskar was so inexact with sums of money.

Related Characters: Oskar Schindler, Itzhak Stern, Amon Goeth, Helen Hirsch/Lena
Page Number: 30
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 22 Quotes

The first morning Commandant Goeth stepped out his front door and murdered a prisoner at random, there was a tendency to see this also, like the first execution on Chujowa Górka, as a unique event, discrete from what would become the customary life of the camp. In fact, of course, the killings on the hill would soon prove to be habitual, and so would Amon’s morning routine.

Related Characters: Oskar Schindler, Amon Goeth, Helen Hirsch/Lena
Page Number: 192
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 23 Quotes

When Levartov and his wife came to the Emalia factory subcamp in the summer of ’43, he had to suffer what at first he believed to be Schindler’s little religious witticisms. On Friday afternoons, in the munitions hall of DEF where Levartov operated a lathe, Schindler would say, “You shouldn’t be here, Rabbi. You should be preparing for Shabbat.” But when Oskar slipped him a bottle of wine for use in the ceremonies, Levartov knew that the Herr Direktor was not joking. Before dusk on Fridays, the rabbi would be dismissed from his workbench and would go to his barracks behind the wire in the backyard of DEF. There, under the strings of sourly drying laundry, he would recite Kiddush over a cup of wine among the roof-high tiers of bunks. Under, of course, the shadow of an SS watchtower.

Related Characters: Oskar Schindler, Amon Goeth, Menasha Levartov
Page Number: 211
Explanation and Analysis: