Opening of the exhibition Schindler's Factory. Stories of the place

A new temporary exhibition at the Schindler Factory will tell about how it came to be that in the former administrative building of the Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF), headed by Oskar Schindler during the German occupation, one of the most visited museums in Krakow was created. The story of the rescue of 1100 Jewish DEF employees with the help of Schindler is now known worldwide, it was popularized thanks to Steven Spielberg's film “Schindler's List”, which is an adaptation of Thomas Keneally's novel “Schindler's Ark”. Of course, the history of the Second World War is at the center of the story presented in the exhibition. Through photographs, documents, original objects and, above all, witness accounts, visitors will learn what the work in the factory was like and how the famous “list” came about.

But this is not the only story associated with this place. The exhibition shows various plots, the fates of specific people, and also tries to outline the broader context of the events related to the Schindler Factory. The beginning of the story is the emergence of industry in Zabloce at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, strongly linked to the development of railways in this area. Before Oskar Schindler came to Krakow, the First Małopolska Enamel and Tin Products Factory “Rekord” existed here. Schindler took over the property and transformed it into the DEF company, producing for the German army, among others. The history of the place is also connected with the crash of the British “Liberator” aircraft flying to the aid of the Warsaw insurgents in August 1944, shot down over Zabłoci. It is also the post-war history of the Krakow Electronic Works “Telpod”, the uprising of “Solidarność” and the strike of the crew of “Telpod” during the martial law. It is also a story about the gradual decline of industry after 1989 and the social changes that have taken place in Zabloce in recent years. And finally, this is the story of the survivors, thanks to Schindler, these people, who have worked for years to commemorate the man who helped them survive the Holocaust. Without them, there would certainly be no film “Schindler's List”, and the story itself, like many others, would have sunk into oblivion.

Curator of the exhibition: Bartosz Heksel