The Oskar Schindler Archive is a collection that includes reproductions and photocopies ranging from the years 1940s to 2000s. The items have been collected by Dr. David Crowe as research material to support his biography on Oskar Schindler. Divided into sixteen series spanning the years from the 1940s to 2000s, the collection documents the activities of Oskar Schindler (1908-1974), who was a spy, businessman, Nazi Party member, and Righteous Gentile. Personal papers include family and medical records, his National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) application, and death certificate. The correspondence consists of letters between Schindler and survivors and associates, as well as correspondence with Hollywood film director and writer Martin Gosh. The factory records are from both of Schindler's factories Emailewarenfabrik in Kraków and in Brünnlitz, comprised of financial records, lease agreements, certificates, inspection, and technical reports. The German government records are divided into subseries. The subseries Lastenausgleich include documents for his application to the equalization of burdens program for compensation of the properties he lost during World War II. Additionally, the subseries Amon Göth records provide details of his career as a commandant of the Kraków -Plaszow concentration camp, including awards, documentation on his Schutzstaffel (SS) service, and NSDAP membership information. The suitcase (Koffer) lawsuit series documents the litigation between Erica Schindler against the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Chris Staehr over Oskar Schindler's suitcase found in Staehr's family home. The newspapers Stuttgarter Zeitung wrote a seven-part series that summarized the essential documents in the suitcase. Emilie Schindler initiated two lawsuits against the newspaper and the Staehrs. The collection contains documentation of the proceedings of the lawsuits. The testimonies and statements series contain transcripts of Holocaust survivors, rescuers, and witnesses. The testimonies were conducted from the 1940s to the 1970s. This series also includes several statements from Schindler in which he discusses his efforts to save his workers. The interview series encompasses transcriptions of dialogues from survivors, as well as Oskar and Emilie Schindler. The writing series range from the 1940s to the 2000s. The material has been divided into eight subseries: scholarly articles, articles, manuscripts, published books, newspaper clippings, periodicals, scrapbooks and diaries, and scripts. The series highlights specific moments of Schindler's life during and after World War II, additionally, the subseries documents the book and movie based on Schindler's life.

Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) was born April 28, 1908, in Svitavy, then a German-speaking area of the Sudetenland, now part of the Czech Republic. He was the eldest of two children born to a farm machinery manufacturer, Johann Hans Schindler, and his wife, Franziska "Fanny" Luser. Schindler began school in 1915 but was expelled in 1924 for forging his grades. After leaving school, he worked with his father and sold farm equipment. On a business trip to the Pelzl farm, he met his future wife, Emilie Pelzl, whom he married in 1928.

14.86 Linear feet

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The collection is open for research. There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.