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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Schindler’s List, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Virtue and Selflessness
Anti-Semitism and Dehumanization
Power
Duty
Bureaucracy
Summary
Analysis
Two days after the meeting of the industrialists in Płaszów, Schindler goes to meet Goeth in his temporary office in the city. They each recognize that the other is out to make a profit, and so they understand each other on that level. Goeth even comes to believe that Schindler is a friend. Still, Stern and others later provide evidence that shows Schindler disapproved of Goeth from the moment they met.
Schindler knows that he can find common ground with men he disagrees with by offering them something that benefits them. He is so good at this that he even convinces someone like Goeth, whom Schindler dislikes, that he is a friend.
Themes
Over a bottle of brandy, Schindler makes the case to Goeth that it’s not possible for him to move his operation to Płaszów. He allows that Madritsch is able to make the move, but he argues that Madritsch’s equipment is more portable, and that moving his own heavy machinery would cause a major disruption and reduce productivity. Moreover, his Jewish workers have become skilled in the very specific quirks of his machines, and replacing them with Polish workers would also cause a production delay.
As per usual, Schindler knows that alcohol will help his case. In addition being a gesture of generosity meant to win Goeth over, alcohol also temporarily impairs judgment. When Schindler is reasonable and friendly, his request is even more difficult for his adversary to turn down.
Themes
Goeth secretly suspects that Schindler is reluctant because moving the factory might disrupt any “sweetly running little deals” he has going on. He reassures Schindler that no one will interfere with the management of the factory. Schindler maintains that he is only thinking about what’s best for industry. He says he’d be very grateful if Goeth lets him stay where he is, and Goeth knows exactly what this means.
In the language of occupied Poland, gratitude essentially means bribery. Similar to how the Nazi bureaucracy uses euphemisms to hide their brutality, the black market in Cracow also uses euphemisms (like “sweetly running little deals”) because people never know if they can fully trust one another.
Themes
Schindler tells Stern about his meeting with Goeth. The factory workers are all worried about what will happen when the ghetto closes. Schindler despairs that even keeping his night shift workers on the premises won’t be enough. Stern tries to cheer him up, because he fears what will happen if Schindler gives up.
Stern is put in the unusual position of having more to lose than Schindler but having to appear hopeful. Stern knows his and the other prisoners’ survival depends on Schindler’s ability to stay motivated.
Themes
Get the entire Schindler’s List LitChart as a printable PDF.
The ghetto is liquidated on March 13, which happens to be Shabbat. Seven centuries of Jews living in Cracow is about to come to an end. Goeth is ready and confident that no one can touch him. Hujar goes to shut down a hospital full of young patients with scarlet fever, executing a doctor referred to as Dr. Blau and all the patients. At another hospital directed by a man named Dr. B, a man referred to as Dr. H administers cyanide to all the patients to prevent a similar fate.
It’s ironic and tragic that the ghetto is liquidated on Shabbat, which in Judaism is supposed to be a day of rest and celebration. In addition, the stories about patients being executed in the hospitals underscores how dehumanizing and brutal life in Cracow is—not even the weakest members of society are spared.
Themes
