11 questions · Society & Everyday
Emilie Schindler is born in 1907 in a German-speaking village in Moravia, in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1928 she marries the fun-loving, restless businessman Oskar Schindler. It is not an easy marriage: yet in the darkest years of the 20th century the two together become rescuers. During the Second World War, Oskar Schindler runs a factory in occupied Poland where he employs Jewish forced labourers: thereby saving them from deportation to the extermination camps. What the famous film 'Schindler's List' tells mainly as Oskar's achievement was in truth a joint effort: Emilie often works in the background, but tirelessly. She obtains food and medicine on the black market for the weakened workers, nurses the sick and risks her own life in the process. One episode near the end of the war is especially dramatic: a train of frostbitten, dying Jewish prisoners reaches the factory. Emilie tends to them, cares for them and saves many lives. In all, around 1,200 Jews survive the Holocaust thanks to the Schindlers. After the war the Schindlers emigrate to Argentina, where Oskar later separates from Emilie. She lives for decades in modest circumstances, long in the shadow of her more famous husband. Only late is her own part in the rescue recognised; Israel honours both as "Righteous Among the Nations". Emilie Schindler dies in 2001: a woman whose quiet courage saved many lives.
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saving Jews from the Holocaust
Around 1,200 Jews survived thanks to the Schindler couple.
💡 Did you know? Over 1,200 Jews owed their survival to the Schindlers: Emilie's role went long unrecognised.
Foto: Dr. José Rosenberg · Attribution · Wikimedia Commons
Emilie Schindler
Emilie Schindler (1907 to 2001) in old age. After the war she lived in Argentina for decades, long forgotten and in the end impoverished.
💡 Did you know? She died in 2001 in Strausberg near Berlin, shortly after returning to Germany.
Oskar Schindler
The rescue was a joint achievement of both spouses.
💡 Did you know? While Oskar Schindler became known as a flamboyant bon vivant, Emilie worked quietly on the rescue.
Schindler's List
Steven Spielberg's film „Schindler's List“ (1993) made the rescue story world-famous: but showed Emilie's part only in passing.
💡 Did you know? The film centres mainly on Oskar: Emilie's part long remained in the shadows.
employment in the factory
As "war-essential" workers they were protected from deportation.
💡 Did you know? As „war-essential“ workers in Schindler's factory, the Jews were shielded from deportation to the death camps.
obtained food and medicine
Emilie secretly obtained food and medicine on the black market for the weakened workers.
💡 Did you know? She risked her own life in doing so.
she cared for the dying prisoners
This episode is one of the most striking examples of her courage.
💡 Did you know? When a train of nearly frozen, dying prisoners arrived, Emilie nursed them back to health herself: many survived only because of it.
Righteous Among the Nations
This honour goes to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust.
💡 Did you know? Israel honoured both Schindlers as „Righteous Among the Nations“: the highest award for non-Jewish rescuers of Jews.
emigration to Argentina
Only late was her own part in the rescue publicly recognised; she died in 2001.
💡 Did you know? After the war Emilie emigrated with Oskar to Argentina; she later lived there for decades in poverty and obscurity.
1907
Born: 22 October 1907 in Alt Moletein
2001
Died: 5 October 2001, aged 93
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