Oscar Schindler with Nazi
Officers
Another time at
Schindler's factory, during an inspection by Amon Goeth
and his SS officers, the attention of the visitors was
caught by the sight of the old Jew, Lamus, who was pushing
a barrow too slowly across the factory courtyard,
apparently utterly depressed. Goeth asked why the man was
so sad, and it was explained to him that Lamus had lost
his wife and only child a few weeks earlier during the
liquidation of the ghetto. Goeth ordered his adjutant Grün
to execute the Jew "so that he might be reunited with
his family in heaven," then he guffawed and the SS
officers moved on.
Someone from the metal hall rushed up to Oscar Schindler's
office and alerted him. Oscar came roaring down the stairs
and reached the yard just as the SS man ordered Lamus:
"Slip your pants down to your ankles and start
walking." Dazed, the old man did as he was told.
Schindler called out desperately:"You can't do that.
You are interfering with all my discipline .." The SS
officer just sneered. Schindler continued, blurting out
the words:"The morale of my workers will suffer.
Production for der Vaterland will be affected." The
SS adjudant took out his pistol, ready to shoot.
"A bottle of schnapps if you don't shoot him",
Schindler almost screamed, no longer thinking rationally.
"Stimmt!" To Schindler's astonishment, the SS
man complied. Grinning, the officer put the gun away and
strolled arm in arm with the shaken Schindler to the
office to collect his bottle of schnapps. And old Lamus,
trailing his pants along the ground, continued shuffling
across the yard, waiting sickeningly for the bullet in his
back that never came.
On another occasion, three SS men walked onto the factory
floor without warning, arguing among themselves. "I
tell you, the Jew is even lower than an animal," one
was saying. Then, taking out his pistol, he ordered the
nearest Jewish worker to leave his machine and pick up
some sweepings from the floor. "Eat it," he
barked, waving his gun. The shivering man choked down the
mess. "You see what I mean," the SS man
explained to his friends as they walked away. "They
eat anything at all. Even an animal would never do
that."
Guestbook
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler, murderer of millions, master
of destruction and organized insanity,
was seized by an obsession with the Jews all
his life. The Nazi Führer had always been
straightforward about his plans - his dream
of a racially "pure" empire would tolerate
no Jews. He announced at many occasions the
"annihilation of the Jews" living in the
territory under his control.
In Hitler's mind, murdering millions of Jews
could only be accomplished under the
confusion of war - from the beginning he was
planning a war that would engulf Europe .. |
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