Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory
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Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory () is a former metal item factory in
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
. It now hosts two museums: the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków, on the former workshops, and a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków, situated at ul. Lipowa 4 (4 Lipowa Street) in the district of , in the administrative building of the former enamel factory known as Oskar Schindler's Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF), as seen in the film ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...
''. Operating here before DEF was the first Malopolska factory of enamelware and metal products limited liability company, instituted in March 1937.


History

''Pierwsza Małopolska Fabryka Naczyń Emaliowanych i Wyrobów Blaszanych “Rekord,”Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością w Krakowie'' ('Rekord' First Małopolska Factory of Enamel Vessels and Tinware, Limited Liability Company in Kraków) was established in March 1937 by three
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
entrepreneurs: Michał Gutman from Bedzin, Izrael Kahn from Kraków, and Wolf Luzer Glajtman from Olkusz. The partners leased the production halls from the factory of wire, mesh, and iron products with its characteristic sawtooth roofs, and purchased a plot at ul. Lipowa 4 for their future base. It was then that the following were built: the stamping room where metal sheets were processed, prepared and pressed, the deacidification facility (varnishing) where the vessels were bathed in a solution of sulfuric acid to remove all impurities and grease, and the enamel shop, where enamel was laid in a number of layers: the priming coat first, then the colour, and finally another protective coat. The ownership of the company changed a number of times, and its financial situation continued to worsen. In June 1939, the company applied for insolvency, which was officially announced by the Regional Court in Kraków.


World War II

On 1 September 1939,
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
invaded Poland and the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
broke out. On 6 September, German troops entered Kraków. It was also probably around that time in which Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten German who was a member of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
and an agent of the ''
Abwehr The (German language, German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', though the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context) ) was the German military intelligence , military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ...
'', arrived in Kraków. Using the power of the German occupation forces in the capacity of a trustee, he took over the German kitchenware shop on ul. Krakowska, and in November 1939, on the power of the decision of the Trusteeship Authority he took over the receivership of the "Rekord" company in Zabłocie. He also produced ammunition shells, so that his factory would be classed as an essential part of the war effort. He managed to build a subcamp of the Płaszów forced labor camp in the premises where "his" Jews had scarce contact with camp guards. In January 1940, Schindler changed the name of the factory to Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik - DEF. Initially, non-Jewish Poles predominated among the employed workers. Year by year, the number of Jewish Polish workers recruited through the ghetto wage office increased. Schindler in this respect was initially driven by economic reasons—employing Jews significantly decreased the costs of recruitment, as they did not receive any compensation. For each Polish Jewish worker, the factory director paid a small fee to the SS - 4 złotys per day for a working woman and 5 złotys per day for a working man. The non-Jewish Poles remained employed mainly in administrative positions. The number of Polish Jewish workers increased from over 150 in 1940 to around 1100 in 1944 (this is the sum of workers from three nearby factories, barracked in the sub-camp at DEF). From the very beginning of the factory's operation, Schindler used part of its profits to provide food for its Jewish workers. The working conditions were difficult, especially at the stands at enamel furnaces and at ladles with sulfuric acid, with which the workers (predominantly women) had direct contact. Other difficulties included low temperatures in the winter, as well as lice epidemics, which caused mainly dysentery, but also typhus. On the other hand, workers at Schindler's factory received bigger food portions than in other factories based on forced labour. During the existence of the ghetto in Podgórze, Jewish workers were led to the factory under the escort of industrial guards (''Werkschutzs'') or Ukrainians. When the ghetto was liquidated in 1943, Kraków Jews who escaped death at that time were transferred to the Plaszow labour camp. The distance from the ghetto to Schindler’s Emalia factory had not been very far, but from the Płaszów camp the inmates had to walk several miles. Their workday was already twelve hours long, and Schindler felt sorry for his people. Schindler then applied for a permit to establish a sub-camp of the Plaszow camp on the premises of his factory. He argued that his employees had to walk more than ten kilometers from the camp to the factory every day. Bringing them to the factory would increase its efficiency. His arguments as well as bribes made his plan come to life. In the barracks in Zabłocie, employees of DEF and three neighboring companies producing for the needs of the German army were accommodated. The camp was surrounded by barbed wire, watchtowers were built, and an assembly square was situated between the barracks. The nutritional conditions were much better than in the Płaszow camp, especially due to the cooperation with Polish employees - they contacted people in the city, brought letters and food to the Jewish workers. The production in the factory and the camp was controlled, and '' Hauptsturmführer'' Amon Göth, the commandant of the Plaszow camp, was often a guest here. Thanks to Schindler's efforts, the inspections were not so burdensome for the plant employees. It was only after the Płaszow camp was transformed into a concentration camp in January 1944 that the prisoners from Zabłocie were subject to permanent SS control. The work initially lasted 12 hours in a two-shift system, then 8 hours in a three-shift system. As the eastern front approached Kraków, the Germans began to liquidate the camps and prisons in the east of the
General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...
. It was then that Oskar Schindler decided to evacuate the factory with its employees to Brünnlitz in Reichsgau Sudetenland, located in the northern part of the
Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...
in what had been
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
(now part of the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
).


Post-war

After the war, as early as 1946, the factory was nationalized. In the 1948–2002 period, the former DEF facilities were used by Krakowskie Zakłady Elektroniczne Unitra-Telpod (later renamed Telpod S.A.), a company manufacturing telecommunications equipment. Only in 2005, the territory returned to the use of the city of Krakow, and since 2007 the exposition of the ‘Krakow Historical Museum’ called ”Krakow. The period of occupation 1939-1945” has been located here. The museum has the desk and the stairs from the set of ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...
'' as part of the tour.


Gallery

File:Schindler-plaszow.jpeg, From 1948 to 2002, the factory was used by Unitra-Telpod. File:Kraków - Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera 20240813-01.jpg, Museum building File:FactoryGateOskarSchindlerCracow.JPG, Entrance area of the factory in 2013 File:Kraków Schindler Factory 2010 3.jpg, Photos of survivors File:Oskar Schindler's desk at Emalia Factory.JPG, Desk of Oskar Schindler with a list of Jews saved by him File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, Schidler's List installation 02.jpg, Interior installation of ''
Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the historical novel '' Schindler's Ark'' (1982) by Thomas Keneally. The film follows ...
'' File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 15.jpg, An installation commemorating the destruction of the Kraków ghetto File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 05.jpg, Interactive screen File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 06.jpg, Pre-war signs with street names File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 12.jpg, Reconstruction of the basement where Jews were hidden File:Schindler's factory, permanent exhibition.jpg, Part of the permanent exhibition File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, Kaiserpanorama.jpg, Kaiserpanorama/Fotoplastikon File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 02.jpg, Reconstruction of the tram File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 16.jpg, A burned book – symbol of the ghetto File:Schindler's Factory, Kraków, interior 08.jpg, Reconstruction of an apartment in the ghetto File:Kraków - Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera 20240813-02.jpg, The facade of the former Schindler's Factory File:Schindler's Factory - exhibition inside.jpg, Historical Museum of the City of Krakow - exhibition


References


External links


Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory – Branch of the Museum of Kraków

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{{Authority control Oskar Schindler Jews and Judaism in Kraków Holocaust museums in Poland Museums in Kraków Manufacturing plants in Poland 1937 establishments in Poland Kraków in World War II