Oskar Schindler’s Enamelware Factory

In Krakow’s Podgórze, in its post-industrial part of Zabłocie, at 4 Lipowa Street, there is Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, a symbol of salvation and humanitarianism. The Historical Museum of the City of Krakow operates in the administrative building of the former Enamelware Tin Products factory, and the presented exhibition “Krakow Time of Occupation 1939 – 1945” is one of the must-see points in the sightseeing program of every tourist visiting the royal city.

Tragic history of Krakow during the war occupation:
The origins of the Schindler’s Factory date back to 1937, when it was founded by three Jewish owners. With the advent of the German occupation, it was taken by Oskar Schindler, who employed Jews who were threatened with extermination, who were then entered on the so-called Schindler’s list and saved from extermination. Not only enameled products were produced, but also military equipment – mess tin, shells for missiles, detonators for cannon shells and air bombs.
In 1943, after the liquidation of the ghetto, Schindler led to an uprising at ul. Lipowa of the Płaszów concentration sub-camp. Sanitary conditions and food rations in the created camp allowed nearly a thousand Jewish workers of the Schindler’s Factory and other nearby plants to survive. A year later, due to a shifting front, Schindler decided to evacuate the armaments part of the factory to Brünnlitz in the Czech Republic together with the workers, thanks to which he saved their lives.
The history of the factory and its owner was described in his novel by Thomas Kenneally, while Steven Spielberg directed the feature film Schindler’s List, based on it, largely shot in Poland.

Schindler Museum:
The exhibition “Krakow Time of Occupation 1939 – 1945” presents preserved documents, photographs and testimonies of witnesses. The individual phases of the Nazi occupation, as well as the fate of the inhabitants of Krakow, presented there, allow you to get to know the royal city, as well as Oskar Schindler himself. There are also temporary exhibitions, film screenings and other events.