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
Nothing Schindler does after the war will be as noteworthy as what he did during the war. He does, however, remain generous and skilled at tracking down things that seem unobtainable
The book emphasizes Schindler’s ordinariness after the war not to knock him down, but to show how extraordinary circumstances can bring out the best in otherwise ordinary people.
Themes
When Goeth is captured by General Patton’s army, he foolishly considers calling both Helen Hirsch and Oskar Schindler as witnesses to his character at the trial, although he doesn’t. Pemper is a witness for the prosecution and uses his amazing memory to provide evidence. Goeth is hanged on September 13, 1946.
Goeth continues his downward spiral, emphasizing the ultimate failure of his brutal style of leadership, which has left him isolated and without any real connections.
Themes
In Munich, Schindler himself identifies Liepold, who is in the custody of Americans. Liepold is angry, but Schindler asks, “Do you want me to do it, or would you rather leave it to the fifty angry Jews who are waiting downstairs in the street?” Liepold is hanged too.
With the war over, Schindler no longer has to be discrete about his allegiances. Even Liepold, who was perhaps a little more self-aware than Goeth, is surprised to see Schindler betray him.
Themes
Schindler goes to South America with Emilie to breed nutria, which are large aquatic rodents valued for their skins. The business never really takes off, and in 1957, Schindler heads back to Germany, leaving his wife behind in Brazil. He gets a cement business going with money from the Joint Distribution Committee and “loans” from some successful “Schindler Jews.” Still, by 1961, he’s bankrupt again.
Though Schindler would eventually be recognized as a hero, particularly in the immediate aftermath of the war, it may have been easier for him to go to somewhere like South America in order to avoid being taken for a former concentration camp manager. His lack of business success suggests that he struggles without people like Stern, Bankier, and Klonowska to manage many of his day-to-day affairs.
Themes
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For the rest of his life, survivors whom Schindler saved welcome him to their homes, and in 1961, some of them invite him to Israel. It’s the same year as Adolf Eichmann’s trial, and Schindler’s visit makes the international news, with many making favorable distinctions between him and Eichmann. Some Holocaust survivors, however, remain skeptical that any camp could be as benign as Schindler’s.
Eichmann was one of the architects of the Holocaust, so it makes an interesting parallel that he is in Jerusalem at the same time as Schindler, one of the greatest resisters of the Holocaust. It’s significant that all this was taking place in the 1960s—the events of World War II were so momentous that it took decades to sort out what really happened and to deal with the consequences. The publication of Schindler’s List itself (as well as the eventual film adaptation) played a role in shaping how the history of World War II is discussed.
Themes
The same judge as for Eichmann’s trial presides over an initiative put forward by Stern, Sternberg, and Bejski to announce an official tribute to Schindler. The hearing attracts a large collection of statements, almost all positive, with four more critical statements (which still admit that Schindler may have saved their lives). Tel Aviv becomes the first place to honor Schindler, unveiling a plaque for his 53rd birthday. Madritsch and Titsch are among the others with memorial trees in the park.
Keneally dutifully records negative statements against Schindler in order to avoid being accused of being biased or following a specific agenda. He shows, however, that in the context of the evidence, these negative statements were few in number and fairly mild in content. Once again, Schindler’s birthday coincides with a major event in his life and serves as a benchmark of how much he’s achieved since his 34th birthday earlier in the book.
Themes
Despite positive stories in the German press, the additional fame only brings Schindler more problems. In 1963, he punches a factory worker who calls him a “Jew-kisser” and gets charged with assault, forced to pay damages. Incidents like this make Schindler even more dependent on the generosity of his former prisoners.
As this passage shows, the end of World War II didn’t end anti-Semitism in Germany by any means. Even figures who seem to be universally beloved like Schindler could have some very vocal opponents.
Themes
Stern, Sternberg, and Bejski continue to lobby the West German government for a pension to Schindler. Finally, in 1968, their request is fulfilled. Schindler continues to testify against war criminals, giving confidential information about Płaszów personnel on his birthday in 1967. He is a willing witness but also a careful and meticulous one. In his sixties, Schindler starts working for the German Friends of Hebrew University, continuing to drink like he did when he was younger.
Schindler’s former prisoners feel that they owe him their lives and that it’s the least they can do to make sure he’s provided for financially. Schindler has another important birthday when he testifies. This is his last birthday mentioned in the book, and in many ways, his testimonials help close out his involvement in the war.
Themes
Emilie never leaves Brazil, and as of the first publication of Schindler’s List, she still lives there. She comments briefly about Schindler in 1973 for a German documentary about him.
Though Emilie cooperated with Schindler at Brinnlitz, it seems clear that when the two of them didn’t have a shared mission to connect them, they had little in common.
Themes
In 1972, Schindler goes to New York to see a floor in a research center that is dedicated to him by some former prisoners. He is visibly ill at the time. In October 1974, Schindler collapses near a Frankfurt railway station and dies in the hospital. Per his last wishes, he is buried in a Catholic cemetery in Jerusalem. Many “Schindler Jews” attend his funeral, and his death is mourned around the world.
Schindler’s burial at a Catholic cemetery in Jerusalem highlights his many contradictions: he wasn’t Jewish or even devoutly Catholic, but he was a virtuous man who pursued his efforts to save Jewish prisoners with a zeal that resembled religion and with a selflessness that is valued highly by both religions.
Themes
