Oskar Schindler, the Czech businessman made famous by Stephen Spielberg for saving 1,200 Jews from the concentration camps, made 7 copies of his life-saving list.
The whereabouts of two of them are unknown, the Israeli Holocaust Museum has two, another is in a public archive in Koblenz, Germany, another is in the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., and the final extant list belongs to the Stern family, descendants of Schindler’s accountant and right hand man, Itzhak Stern.
After two years of negotiations with historic document dealer Gary Zimet of MomentsInTime.com, the Stern family has put that last known privately-held copy on the market. The price is a cool $2.2 million.
“It’s printed on onion-skin paper,” Zimet said. “It’s remarkable given the age and the paper. It’s in excellent shape.”
[…]”This is the only remaining copy left in private hands,” Zimet said. “The rest are in museums.”
While Zimet expects that many museums will be interested in obtaining the list, he notes that the high price will require a patron to step forward. “These days, museums are all broke,” Zimet said.
Yes charming.
Several copies of the list were made between 1944 and 1945. Every time Schindler submitted a new (and longer) list of employees to be spared the camps, he kept a carbon copy. According to the Stern family, this particular list of 801 names dated 18/04/1945 was the second to last one Schindler made.
Here’s hoping someone with cash could use the tax write-off and donates it to a public institution.
I understand the motives, but this really is a depressing story!
[By the by, I’m a long time lurker and just wanted to say that I enjoy and appreciate your efforts with the blog.]
Thank you! I love to hear from lurkers, even if the story is a sad one. :thanks:
I think it is a great story. I know many of the children born to Schindler Jews, as they call themselves. They and their parents were all acutely aware of being saved from the crematoria by one brilliant man. OK he was a womaniser, a drinker and a member of the Nazi Party – it doesn’t matter.
Just one small quibble. The book that made the story famous was Schindler’s Ark, written by the very fine Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. His novel was so impressive, it won the 1982 Booker Prize.
I’m not sure that the $2.2 million asking price is a great story. I rather think they should consider selling it to a public museum for the same amount that Schindler charged those he saved.
I thought Hels was referring to Schindler’s story itself as the great one, not the news about the sale.
I’m familiar with the book but I really think it was the movie that made the story famous, Booker Prize notwithstanding. 😉