84 pages • 2 hours read
The Boy On The Wooden Box
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Background
Historical Context: German Invasion and Occupation of Poland during World War II
In a speech to his commanders-in-chief on August 22, 1939, Adolf Hitler declared that Germany’s imminent attack on Poland must be executed “with the greatest brutality and without mercy” (Richie, Alexandra. “Invasion of Poland.” The National WWII Museum—New Orleans). On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, rationalizing this action with a deliberately staged “attack” on a German radio station near the Polish border and with propaganda falsely accusing Poland of colluding with France and Great Britain to act against Germany. Faced with Germany’s new tactic, the Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” and a subsequent attack by the Soviet Union, the Polish army was soon defeated by the ravages of this deadly two-front war. Germany’s unprovoked attack on Poland marked the beginning of World War II. Poland was forced to surrender to Germany on September 28, 1939, after which the country was divided between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. (“Invasion of Poland, Fall 1939.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
As Germany annexed Poland and began to implement its brutal antisemitic policies, Jewish citizens were sequestered in ghettos, and the Nazi occupation soon created a wide range of forced-labor camps throughout Poland and used the Jewish people as an enslaved labor force to create munitions and other supplies for the war. Those who were judged to be unfit to work were summarily killed or deported. As World War II progressed, critical shortages in the German labor force resulted in the Nazis’ increased use of concentration camp prisoners to fill this gap. By 1943 and 1944, massive concentration camps such as Auschwitz became “administrative centers” that also oversaw hundreds of nearby subcamps and provided them with prisoners (“Forced Labor.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Cultural Context: Oskar Schindler and the Impact of Schindler’s List
Oskar Schindler, a German Catholic businessman, joined the Nazi Party in 1939. Reasoning that owning and operating a factory would be a far more lucrative endeavor than serving in the military, he capitalized on “the German occupation program to ‘Aryanize’ and ‘Germanize’ Jewish-owned and Polish-owned businesses” (“Oskar Schindler.” Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). To this end, he purchased an enamelware factory, renamed it Emalia, and then employed Jewish workers from the Kraków ghetto. While this was initially more of an economic decision than a humanitarian gesture, Schindler became increasingly involved in finding indirect ways to safeguard the lives of his Jewish workers, using a combination of bribes and personal influence to ensure that they were not deported. He also worked to improve their living conditions as the war progressed. Soon, the Kraków ghetto became a forced labor camp and was transformed into the Krakóu-Plaszow concentration camp. In 1943, Schindler had a sub-camp built upon the Emalia premises so that the workers would no longer be force-marched back and forth from Krakóu-Plaszow. As a result, approximately 1,450 of his workers were transferred there and were able to avoid the brutal conditions in the newly formed concentration camp.
In 1944, Schindler arranged for his factory to be moved to Brünnlitz and redesignated as a manufacturer of armaments. To accomplish this, his subordinates also created several key lists of 1,200 Jewish men and women whose lives would be saved from the ravages of the concentration camps when they were recruited to work in the new factory. Historical records indicate that these names were culled from multiple sources and that only about one-third of them previously worked for Schindler. During the Brünnlitz factory’s eight months of existence, Schindler deliberately falsified production figures to obscure the fact that his operation never produced more than one single wagonload of ammunition, and his actions enabled well over 1,000 Jewish prisoners to escape the atrocities of the concentration camps.
Rena Finder, a Holocaust survivor who, like Leon Leyson, worked in Emalia and later in Brünnlitz, praised Schindler’s kindness and dedication and asserted, “He was sent by God to take care of us” (Waxman, Olivia B. “Inside the Real Story behind Schindler’s List.” Time Magazine. 7 Dec. 2018). The historic “lists” compiled at Schindler’s orders later became the basis for author Thomas Keneally’s Schindler’s Ark (1982), the American edition of which was renamed Schindler’s List and inspired Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed 1993 film of the same name. Although some critics assert that the film oversimplifies the complex and morally ambiguous aspects of Schindler’s actions during World War II, the movie is also widely recognized for creating increased awareness of the Holocaust and emboldening Holocaust survivors to speak out and document their experiences of these dark times.
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