Explore the real-world places that appear in Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (Enamel Factory), Kraków Ghetto (Podgórze), Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta), Pod Orłem Pharmacy, Kraków-Płaszów Concentration Camp and 6 more.
ul. Lipowa 4 — Schindler's factory, Zabłocie
Oskar Schindler takes over the bankrupt enamel works in 1939 and renames it Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik, staffing it with cheap Jewish labor. Under the eye of his accountant Itzhak Stern, he gradually shifts from profit-seeking to protecting his workers, shielding them from deportation. The factory becomes a sanctuary where Jews are classed as essential war workers.
The enamel works was founded in 1937 by Jewish owners and was taken over by Schindler in November 1939. At its peak it employed about 1,700 people, many of them Jewish forced laborers. It continued as a factory after the war until the late 20th century.
The administration building now houses Oskar Schindler's Factory, a branch of the Historical Museum of Kraków. Its permanent exhibition, Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939-1945, includes Schindler's preserved office and the famous atrium.
Visit: Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory (Museum of Kraków) (museum)
Podgórze district — Forced Jewish ghetto, 1941-1943
In March 1941 the Germans force Kraków's Jews into a walled ghetto in Podgórze, crowded into cramped apartments. Schindler observes the daily humiliations and the brutal Aktions that empty the streets. The liquidation of the ghetto in March 1943 is witnessed by Schindler and his mistress on horseback from the Krakus Mound, a scene that deepens his resolve to save as many as he can.
The ghetto was established by German decree in March 1941, enclosing about 15,000 people in a small area. Its walls were shaped like Jewish tombstones. It was liquidated on 13-14 March 1943, with survivors sent to Płaszów or killed.
Fragments of the ghetto wall survive on ul. Lwowska and Limanowskiego. The district is a lively quarter with memorials and the Ghetto Heroes Square.
Visit: Kraków Ghetto Wall Fragment (monument)
Podgórze — Site of selections and deportations
The square beside the ghetto's main gate served as an assembly point where Jews were gathered for selection and deportation. It lay beside the Pod Orłem Pharmacy of Tadeusz Pankiewicz, the only non-Jew permitted to remain in the ghetto, who aided residents with medicine and information.
Previously Zgody Square, it was the ghetto's central assembly point. In 2005 it was redesigned with 70 large empty bronze and steel chairs to symbolize the absence of those deported.
The square is a public memorial space with the Empty Chairs installation. It is a major stop on Schindler-related tours.
Visit: Ghetto Heroes Square (monument)
Plac Bohaterów Getta 18 — Tadeusz Pankiewicz's pharmacy
Pankiewicz's pharmacy is one of the few places of refuge in the ghetto, where he distributes sedatives, hair dye, and news to residents and aids the resistance. His story sits alongside Schindler's as an example of individual courage in the ghetto's streets.
Tadeusz Pankiewicz ran the Under the Eagle pharmacy within the ghetto from 1941 to 1943. He was later recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. His memoir The Kraków Ghetto Pharmacy documents the period.
The pharmacy is now a museum, a branch of the Historical Museum of Kraków, preserving original furnishings and exhibits on ghetto life.
Visit: Eagle Pharmacy Museum (museum)
ul. Jerozolimska — Amon Göth's camp
After the ghetto's liquidation, surviving Jews are moved to Płaszów, ruled by the sadistic commandant Amon Göth. He shoots prisoners at random from his villa balcony. Schindler befriends Göth, plies him with liquor and bribes, and negotiates to move his workers to the relative safety of his own factory subcamp.
Built in 1942 on the sites of two Jewish cemeteries, Płaszów became a forced labor and then concentration camp in 1944. Thousands were murdered there. It was evacuated in January 1945 as the Red Army approached.
The site is an open field of grassy hills and memorials, including the Monument to the Victims of Fascism. Göth's villa and the grey house remain nearby.
Visit: Płaszów Camp Memorial Site (historic site)
ul. Heltmana 5 — Commandant's residence at Płaszów
Göth lives in a villa overlooking the camp, from which he shoots prisoners for sport. His Jewish maid Helen Hirsch suffers his violence and moods, and Schindler conspires to protect her. Here Schindler and Göth drink and talk, and Schindler plays on the commandant's vanity and greed.
The villa was built for the camp commandant and sits above the former camp grounds. It was a private residence after the war.
The villa remains a private residence and is not open to visitors, though it can be seen from the street.
Podgórze — Overlook above the ghetto
In the novel's pivotal scene, Schindler and a companion ride horses onto a hill above Kraków and watch the ghetto's liquidation. He sees a small girl in a red coat wandering amid the violence, and the sight transforms him from opportunist to rescuer.
Krakus Mound is an ancient earthen tumulus, traditionally the burial place of the legendary founder of Kraków. It rises about 16 meters above Podgórze.
It is a public hill with sweeping views over the city and the Vistula, open to visitors.
Visit: Krakus Mound (landmark)
ul. Pomorska 2 — Gestapo headquarters
Schindler is arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo in Kraków on charges including improper contact with Jews. His connections and bribes help him get released, and he continues operating his protective scheme.
The building housed the Gestapo headquarters in Kraków during the occupation, where many prisoners were interrogated and tortured.
It now houses the Pomorska Street Museum branch, with a preserved cell block and exhibit on the Nazi occupation.
Visit: Pomorska 2 Museum (museum)
Moravia, Czech Republic — Schindler's final factory
In 1944 as the Soviets approach, Schindler relocates his factory and his 1,100 Jews to Brünnlitz in Moravia. The list of names he dictates to Stern secures their transfer. The women are mistakenly sent to Auschwitz, and Schindler bribes officials to retrieve them. At war's end, he spends his fortune keeping them alive.
Schindler's Brünnlitz armaments plant operated from late 1944 until May 1945. The site lies in the town of Brněnec in what is now the Czech Republic.
A memorial plaque and a small exhibition mark the site, which is a modest tourist stop.
Visit: Schindler's Factory Memorial in Brněnec (historic site)
Oświęcim — Destination that threatened Schindler's women
The women on Schindler's list are rerouted to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they face the gas chambers. Schindler bribes camp officials to release them. They return to Brünnlitz, an astonishing reversal for a train that went in the direction of death.
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, where over a million people were murdered, most of them Jews.
It is the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site welcoming visitors and offering guided tours.
Visit: Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (museum)
Jerusalem — Schindler's burial place
The book closes with the postwar years, and Schindlerjuden visit his grave to place stones on it as a sign of remembrance. Schindler, who died in 1974, asked to be buried in Jerusalem.
Oskar Schindler is buried at the Catholic Cemetery on Mount Zion. He was named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1962.
The grave is a place of pilgrimage for survivors, descendants, and visitors.
Visit: Oskar Schindler's Grave, Mount Zion (monument)
More by Thomas Keneally: All Thomas Keneally books
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