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Helen Hirsch/Lena
Victoria Klonowska is Oskar Schindler’s attractive, blonde Polish secretary and lover. A hard-headed and efficient Polish nationalist, she often works on Schindler’s behalf in order to get him released from SS prison. From the beginning, Klonowska is influential, telling Oskar of where he can go to get a drink and meet like-minded people and helping to handle his administrative affairs. Though Schindler already has a wife, Emilie, and other women in his life, like his mistress Ingrid, Klonowska never seems jealous. Oskar frequently shows his gratitude for Klonowska’s work, at one point getting her a poodle for Christmas (something that’s very difficult to acquire on the black market). When Schindler moves his operations to Brinnlitz, Klonowska stays behind in Cracow, again apparently with no hard feelings. Klonowska is one of Schindler’s many talented allies who helped him out of hard situations and ran his business’s day-to-day operations.
Victoria Klonowska Quotes in Schindler’s List
The Schindler’s List quotes below are all either spoken by Victoria Klonowska or refer to Victoria Klonowska. 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:
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Chapter 5 Quotes
Victoria Klonowska, a Polish secretary, was the beauty of Oskar’s front office, and he immediately began a long affair with her. Ingrid, his German mistress, must have known, as surely as Emilie Schindler knew about Ingrid. For Oskar would never be a surreptitious lover. He had a childlike sexual frankness.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Victoria Klonowska Character Timeline in Schindler’s List
The timeline below shows where the character Victoria Klonowska appears in Schindler’s List. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
...word: he lives with a German mistress and is having an affair with his Polish secretary, while his wife Emilie lives back in Moravia. Schindler is also a heavy drinker and...
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...much that Schindler jokes that his aunt must run an orphanage. Schindler says his Polish secretary will take care of it.
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Chapter 3
...price Pfefferberg quotes. Eventually, he brings Schindler twelve blue shirts. He sees Schindler out with a blond Polish woman but does not see Schindler’s wife, not even after Mrs. Pfefferberg redecorates Schindler’s apartment.
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Chapter 5
Victoria Klonowska is Oskar Schindler’s attractive Polish secretary, and Schindler begins an affair with her shortly after...
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Schindler asks Klonowska if she knows any good clubs in town where he could make friends. She introduces...
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Chapter 11
...don’t seem to know exactly which files they need. Schindler makes a list for his secretary of people he claims he was going to have appointments with that day, but it’s...
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Chapter 12
...Montelupich prison (where he knows a local medical institute gets its cadavers from). Schindler hopes Klonowska is making the necessary calls for him.
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...and his colleagues. Schindler then tells him that he’d like the officer to call his secretary and gives him a list of phone numbers. The SS officer notes that the people...
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Chapter 23
...to the camp disguised and meets Schindler. She is very beautiful, which Schindler and his secretary Klonowska (with whom Schindler is still having an affair) both notice, although Klonowska is used...
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Chapter 33
...Schindler’s effort. Ingrid also comes with Schindler, although she won’t ever live with him again. Klonowska stays behind in Cracow, apparently with no hard feelings.
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...used to act subservient toward Goeth—but it seems that Huth may have been working with Klonowska (who is once again trying to get Schindler off the hook).
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...enough to get dirt on Goeth. Huth comes to Schindler and confirms for him that Klonowska is rallying his old friends. A panel of 12 SS investigators interrogates Schindler the next...
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...actually brought him in. Finally, after a week, Schindler sends a message through Huth and Klonowska to Scherner. Scherner comes and says it’s an outrage how Schindler is being treated, but...
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