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Setting
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—The Einsatzgruppen:
SS paramilitary death squads were called Einsatzgruppen, a word that literally translates to “special-duty groups.” This dignified term feels at odds with the horrific acts of violence that these troops committed, an irony that Keneally explains:
Six Einsatzgruppen had come to Poland with the invading army. Their name had subtle meanings. “Special-duty groups” is a close translation. But the amorphous word Einsatz was also rich with a nuance—of challenge, of picking up a gauntlet, of knightliness. […] In the high rhetoric of their leaders, the Einsatz soldiers knew, a struggle for national existence meant race warfare, just as Einsatz itself, Special Chivalrous Duty, meant the hot barrel of a gun.
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Chapter 20
Explanation and Analysis—Liquidation on Shabbat:
In an instance of situational irony, the Cracow ghetto is liquidated on Shabbat, a day reserved for rest and celebration in the Jewish faith:
Unlock with LitCharts A+On the ghetto’s last morning—a Shabbat, as it happened, March 13—Amon Goeth arrived in Plac Zgody, Peace Square, at an hour which officially preceded dawn. Low clouds obscured any sharp distinctions between night and day.
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Chapter 24
Explanation and Analysis—Health as a Liability:
In general, the Jewish people under Schindler's protection receive more humane treatment than those imprisoned elsewhere. Ironically, there are moments when this favorable treatment actually places them in danger:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Oskar did not seem to realize that throughout Poland that summer of 1943, he was one of the champion illicit feeders of prisoners; that the malign pall of hunger which should by SS policy hang over the great death factories and over every one of the little, barbed-wired forced-labor slums was lacking in Lipowa Street in a way that was dangerously visible.
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Chapter 32
Explanation and Analysis—Rosner’s Violin:
Henry Rosner, a Jewish musician Schindler comes to know in Cracow, is nearly prevented from going to Brinnlitz because of his violin. This is an example of situational irony because, thus far, Rosner's musical aptitude has kept him alive:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Henry Rosner lined up with the Schindler people, but an NCO spotted his violin and, knowing that Amon would require music should he be released from prison, sent Rosner back. Rosner then hid his violin under his coat, against his side, tucking the node of the sound post under his armpit. He lined up again and was let through to the Schindler cars. Rosner had been one of those to whom Oskar had made promises, and so had always been on the list.
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Chapter 38
Explanation and Analysis—Schindler’s Disguise:
In an instance of situational irony, Schindler escapes to freedom after the war by disguising himself as a prisoner:
Unlock with LitCharts A+For the rite of passing over this expensive key to Bankier, Oskar was dressed in prisoner’s stripes, as was his wife, Emilie. The reversal toward which he’d been working since the early days of DEF was visibly complete. When he appeared in the courtyard to say goodbye, everyone thought it a lightly put on disguise, which would be lightly taken off again once he encountered the Americans. The wearing of the coarse cloth was, however, an act that would never completely be laughed off. He would in a most thorough sense always remain a hostage to Brinnlitz and Emalia.
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