Schindler's Ark: Analysis of Major Characters
"Schindler's Ark: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex personalities and relationships found within the narrative centered on Oskar Schindler, a historical figure who played a pivotal role in saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust. Schindler, a German businessman, initially capitalizes on wartime opportunities but ultimately undergoes a profound moral transformation, risking his wealth and safety to protect over a thousand Jewish workers from Nazi persecution. In contrast, Amon Goeth, the sadistic commandant of the Plaszów concentration camp, embodies the brutality of the Nazi regime, engaging in horrific acts of violence against prisoners. Supporting characters such as Itzhak Stern, Schindler’s Jewish accountant, and Leopold "Poldek" Pfefferberg, a prisoner who survives through Schindler's intervention, illustrate the varying responses to oppression and the importance of solidarity in dire circumstances.
Other notable figures include Julián Scherner, an SS officer who, despite his disdain for Schindler, is intricately involved in the bureaucratic machinations of the time, and Emilie Schindler, Oskar's wife, whose quiet strength and compassion further humanize the narrative. The interplay between these characters not only highlights the moral complexities of their choices but also reflects the broader themes of survival, complicity, and resistance during one of history's darkest periods. This character analysis provides a lens for understanding individual actions within the collective tragedy of the Holocaust, prompting reflection on both historical and contemporary issues of injustice and humanity.
Schindler's Ark: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Thomas Michael Keneally
Alternate Title: Schindler's List
First published: 1982
Genre: Novel
Locale: Cracow and Plaszów, Poland; Brünnlitz, Moravia; Linz, Austria; Berlin, Germany
Plot: Historical fiction
Time: 1939–45 (World War II)
Oskar Schindler, chief executive officer of a factory in Poland. A genuine historical figure, like the dozens of characters in the novel, Schindler was born in 1908. He died in 1974. He is of German Christian heritage and was born in an area of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that is now part of the Czech Republic. A former trade school student, motorcycle racer, and soldier, Schindler buys a bankrupt enamelware manufacturing company in Cracow after Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939. He quickly becomes wealthy and wears a large swastika pin in order to forestall criticism and to make sales. He often plays off one Nazi bureaucracy against another. Schindler is a confirmed capitalist, heavy drinker, chain-smoker, and a womanizer. He employs many Jewish forced-labor workers in his business and witnesses the Nazis' elimination of the Cracow ghetto. Schindler is disgusted at the Nazis' brutality, and he soon dedicates himself to saving the lives of oppressed Jews. Schindler uses gifts, bribes, threats, blackmail, and government connections, and he repeatedly risks his own freedom and spends his own fortune to protect and ultimately rescue more than one thousand Jewish men and women from concentration camps. Following the war, he falls into obscurity and poverty and is supported by the generosity of those he saved. After his death, he is buried in Israel, where he is honored for his life-saving actions.
Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszów concentration camp near Cracow, Poland. Similar in age, origin, personal habits, and size to Schindler (with whom he has dealings related to the use of forced labor), Goeth (1908–46) is an officer of the Schutzstaffel, also known as the SS. He has a German mistress named Majola. He is a devoted anti-Semite and becomes a member of the Nazi Party as a teenager. He has been commandant at Plaszów from early 1943 and earns a reputation as a sadist who maltreats prisoners and subjects them to harsh punishment. Goeth is known for arbitrarily allowing his wolfhound and Great Dane to attack and kill prisoners. He personally murders many prisoners by shooting them with a rifle from the balcony of his camp headquarters. Arrested by German authorities for corruption, Goeth loses his position in late 1944. He is captured after Germany's surrender, tried in Poland for war crimes, and executed by hanging.
Itzhak Stern, a Jewish accountant. Thin and scholarly, the calm, passive Stern becomes an assistant to Schindler in his business. Because he has friends and relatives in many Cracow factories, Stern becomes a valuable associate in Schindler's enterprises and is increasingly relied upon to carry out both legal and illegal activities.
Leopold “Poldek” Pfefferberg, a Jewish prisoner at Plaszów concentration camp. Pfefferberg, a former teacher, serves as Goeth's orderly and with Schindler's help survives the war.
Helen “Lena” Hirsch, Goeth's maid. She is a young Jewish woman whom the commandant alternately abuses and coddles. She also survives the war because of Schindler.
Henry and Leo Rosner, are brothers, musicians, and Jewish prisoners at Plaszów. Henry plays violin and Leo pays the accordion. They often exchange their usual tattered prison garb for evening clothes in order to play for business and military guests at Goeth's private parties.
Abraham Bankier, former office manager of Rekord Ltd., the bankrupt enamelware factory. Short and squat, Bankier is absorbed into Schindler's new business and helps expand it by adding more machinery and by recruiting Jewish workers.
Roman Ginter, a businessman and Judenrat representative. A Jewish member of the Cracow ghetto administrative body, Ginter is responsible for drawing up lists of fellow Jews for forced labor. He allows the wealthy to buy their way off the lists, and he bargains with those who wish to stay in Poland rather than be shipped elsewhere where there is a greater chance of death.
Julian Scherner, bald, bespectacled head of the SS in the Cracow region. Though he despises Scherner, Schindler is forced to work with the officer in order to achieve particular goals. Responsible for many deaths, Scherner is found dead under mysterious circumstances just before the war ends.
Julius Madritsch, owner of a uniform factory in Cracow. Like Schindler, Madritsch (1906–84) is a businessman and humanitarian. He was born in Vienna and employs many forced-labor Jews whom he treats well. He is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of people.
Raimund Titsch, manager at the Madritsch factory. In league with his boss, Titsch works to improve the lives of Jewish and Polish forced-labor prisoners and thereby aids in their survival. He also surreptitiously takes photographs that reveal the full horror of the Holocaust.
Viktoria Klonowska, Schindler's Polish secretary, and one of his longtime mistresses. She arranges for Schindler's release on several occasions after he is picked up by various German entities for interrogation. She also discovers a jazz club where Schindler can meet with friends and business associates.
Ingrid, Schindler's German mistress. She enjoys the jewelry he gives her at Christmas. Ingrid and Schindler are horseback riding together when they witness the Nazis forcibly removing Jews from the Cracow ghetto. Their relationship cools in 1944.
Emilie Schindler, married to Oskar Schindler. Emilie and Schindler were married in 1928, and she remains faithful to her husband though he is seldom faithful to her. Late in the war, she comes to Brünnlitz to stay with Schindler. She serves as a nurse for ill prisoners and obtains medicine and vitamins for ailing workers. After the war, she accompanies Schindler to Munich, Germany, and then relocates with him to Argentina where she remains when Schindler returns to Europe. They separate in 1962 but never divorce.