Visit Schindler's Cracow Factory

Excerpt from the book Single White Female Backpacker from the Teresa the Traveler Series. 
Schindler’ List is one of my all time favorite movies and when I discovered it was filmed on location in Krakow, at the actual factory owned by Schindler, I had to pay homage.  With the help of my map, I walked to area where the factory was located expecting a tourist attraction with signage, audio tours and a museum, but there was nothing.  Where the heck was Schindler’s Factory. I walked inside an office building and asked the guy working at the reception desk where the factory was and he pointed around the corner.  I walked around the corner and still, no factory, only two older Polish men enjoying a cigarette in a coffee room with the door open.  I poked my nose in and asked them about the factory.  They didn’t speak English and had no idea what I wanted.  
     I pulled out my map and pointed to the name Schindler’s Factory then stared at them with big sad puppy dog eyes hoping they could help solve the mystery of the missing factory.  One of the men must have taken pity on me because he got up, grabbed a set of keys and motioned for me to follow him.  Then he unlocked a gate, pointed to two large buildings running parallel to each other and brought me to one of the  buildings and unlocked the door to let me in. There was nothing inside the abandoned warehouse but a large empty room.  He pointed to it and announced “Schindler Factory”.  
     Holy crap, this was the real thing! No tour guides, gift shops, information plaques, admission fees – just an old abandon factory.  I felt so privileged.  The kind man let me wonder around taking pictures before motioning for me to follow him up some stairs into a storage room.  He opened the door and hanging from the ceiling were some old looking jackets.  I think he was trying to tell me they were left over costumes from the movie but I am not sure.  Maybe they were the real thing…I may never know.
    I took a picture of the jackets before getting escorted back to the gate where we came in.  I thanked the man for the tour and gave him some money for his kindness - he smiled and thanked me then I was on my way.                 
     I walked back across the bridge to the old town where I came upon a young man giving city tours in a small open air vehicle.  I negotiated a tour that included Schindler’s factory and the Jewish Ghetto finishing in front of my hotel in the Jewish Quarter.  Thankfully my guide spoke English so I could ask him about the factory to ensure I had visited the right place.  We pulled up in the front of the office building and he pointed out the main gate which I immediately recognized from the movie. Then we drove around the back where the rest of the factory was located.  Much to my delight, it was the same abandoned building I had visited a few hours prior.  My guide explained that at one time there was a small display set up in the main building but it was closed for renovations.  In time there will be a museum opened on the site detailing the remarkable life of Oscar Schindler and his Schindlerjuden.
    Oscar Schindler (1908-1974) was a German Industrialist who saved almost 1200 Jews from certain death in the concentration camps during World War Two. He came to Krakow as a businessman looking to capitalize on the German invasion of Poland by purchasing an enamelware factory from a bankruptcy court. Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern helped Schindler obtain 1000 Jewish slave labourers to work in his factory.  Over time the German businessman and member of the Nazi party began to care for his employees.  When he witnessed a raid on the Krakow Ghetto and saw soldiers kill some of his workers while rounding up Jews to send to the concentration camps, Schindler began to use his skills and power to protect his Jewish workers who fondly referred to themselves as “Schindlerjuden” (Schindler’s Jew).
    With the profits he made from the Krakow factory, Schindler opened another factory in Brnĕnec under the guise of producing missiles and hand grenades for the war effort. The factory did not produce a single weapon that could actually be fired. 
    By the end of the war, Schindler had spent his entire fortune saving his Jewish workers.   The Jewish
people never forgot their protector and in post war times a number of Jewish organizations gave Schindler financial assistance.  Despite being hailed a hero, Schindler struggled for the remainder of his
life going bankrupt, separating from his wife and eventually dying of heart trouble at the age of 66.
    While purchasing a briefcase in Poldek Pfefferberg’s Beverly Hills shop, a Holocaust survivor told author Thomas Keneally the story of Oscar Schindler thus inspiring him to write his bestselling novel Schindler’s Ark.           In 1993, the book was turned into the movie Schindler’s List, directed by Jewish filmmaker Steven Spielberg.  Scenes from the movie were filmed in the Krakow factory.
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Where I Stayed...
Hotel Jan
Ul. Grodzka 11,
31-006
Krakow, Poland
Tel: 012 430-19-69
Tel: 012 431-23-89
Email: 
[email protected]
Hotel Jan is a nice 3-star hotel located right in the old city. Price includes breakfast.