Schindler’s List

A young girl arrives at the house of the Dresners, who live in the east part of the ghetto. The child is no longer safe in the countryside since the SS are offering rewards to people who betray their Jewish neighbors. Mrs. Dresner tells the girl that her real parents are hiding and will eventually come to Cracow. In fact, they have been rounded up by the SS but managed to escape before being put on a train, disappearing into a crowd of Polish people. The girl, Genia, is nicknamed “Redcap” because she likes to wear red. When one of the Dresner children questions her about her family, she begins to make up a fake story about how her relatives are Polish.

On April 28, 1942, Schindler’s 34th birthday, he has a boisterous celebration, which starts at Emalia. He brings cakes and cigarettes into the factory for workers. He is so spirited that he kisses a girl named Kucharska and is then seen being friendly with Jewish women and Stern. Someone reports him, and he is arrested again on the morning of the 29th by two Gestapo men (more confident than the two Gestapo from the last time).

Schindler asks if the two men have a warrant and implies that they might regret taking him away without one. One of the men says they will just have to risk the regret. As he is driven away, he notices he is being taken toward Montelupich prison (where he knows a local medical institute gets its cadavers from). Schindler hopes Klonowska is making the necessary calls for him.

A handsome SS officer is the only other man in the cell with Schindler, who suspects the man may be a plant. He gives his name as Philip. After more talking, where the man talks at great lengths, Schindler decides that after all he isn’t a plant and is maybe someone who suffered a breakdown. Philip is amused when he hears that Schindler is locked up for kissing a Jewish girl.

Schindler tries to bribe a low-ranking SS officer guard to get five bottles of vodka. The guard is surprised, but Schindler assures him that three of the bottles are for the man and his colleagues. Schindler then tells him that he’d like the officer to call his secretary and gives him a list of phone numbers. The SS officer notes that the people on the list are influential and leaves.

Philip worries that Schindler will get himself shot for attempted bribery, but when the SS officer comes back, he has two bottles for them, as well as various other amenities that Ingrid packed for Schindler. Schindler and Philip have a pleasant evening.

On the fifth morning, another low-ranking SS officer and two guards come for Schindler. They take him to an office where he meets Rolf Czurda again. Schindler explains to Czurda that he only kissed a Jewish girl because he was drunk on his birthday. Czurda says he has gotten some calls from big-timers about Schindler; Schindler is too essential to the war effort to keep locked up. Schindler asks if there’s anything he can do in return, and Czurda says he has an old aunt who had her apartment bombed out and could use some kitchenware.

As Schindler leaves, Czurda gives him a warning: “You’d be a fool if you got a real taste for some little Jewish skirt. They don’t have a future, Schindler. That’s not just old-fashioned Jew-hate talking, I assure you. It’s policy.”