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{{Short description|Polish accountant and Holocaust survivor}}
{{About|the accountant|the violinist|Isaac Stern|the early Massachusetts settler|Isaac Stearns}}
{{About|the accountant|the violinist|Isaac Stern|the early Massachusetts settler|Isaac Stearns}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Itzhak Stern
| name = Itzhak Stern
| image =
| image =
| caption = Itzhak Stern
| caption =
| birth_date = 25 January 1901
| birth_date = 25 January 1901
| birth_place = [[Kraków]], [[Grand Duchy of Cracow]], [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]]
| birth_place = [[Kraków]], [[Grand Duchy of Cracow]], [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]]
| death_date = 1969 (aged 68)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kean |first1=Danuta |title=Real Schindler's list expected to make $2.4m in sale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/09/real-schindlers-list-expected-to-make-2m-at-auction |website=The Guardian |access-date=22 March 2020 |date=9 March 2017}}</ref>
| death_date = 30 January 1969 (aged 68)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kean |first1=Danuta |title=Real Schindler's list expected to make $2.4m in sale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/09/real-schindlers-list-expected-to-make-2m-at-auction |website=The Guardian |access-date=22 March 2020 |date=9 March 2017}}</ref>
| death_place = [[Israel]]
| death_place = [[Tel Aviv]], Israel
| occupation = Accountant
| occupation = Accountant
| known_for = Accountant of [[Oskar Schindler]] who assisted him in his wartime rescue activities.
| known_for = Accountant of [[Oskar Schindler]] who assisted him in his wartime rescue activities.
Line 13: Line 15:
| relatives = Natan Stern (brother)
| relatives = Natan Stern (brother)
}}
}}
'''Itzhak Stern''' (25 January 1901 – 1969) was a Polish-Israeli Jewish [[Holocaust survivor]] who worked for Sudeten-German industrialist [[Oskar Schindler]] and assisted him in his rescue activities during the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]].
'''Itzhak Stern''' (25 January 1901 – 30 January 1969) was a [[History of the Jews in Poland|Polish Jew]] and a [[Holocaust survivor]], who worked for [[Sudeten Germans|Sudeten-German]] industrialist [[Oskar Schindler]] and assisted him in his rescue activities during [[the Holocaust]]. After [[World War II]], Stern moved to [[Israel]].

== Life ==
== Life ==


=== Early life ===
=== Early life ===
Stern was born 25 January 1901, in [[Kraków]]. He was an important leader in the Jewish community, and was the vice president of the Jewish Agency for Western Poland and a member of the Zionist Central Committee.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/steinhouse.html|title=The Real Oskar Schindler|last=Steinhouse|first=Herbert|date=1994|website=www.writing.upenn.edu|access-date=2018-08-23}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1938, he was engaged to Sophia Backenrot, although the marriage was postponed until after the war.<ref name=":1" />
Stern was born 25 January 1901, in [[Kraków]]. He was an important leader in the Jewish community, and was the vice president of the Jewish Agency for Western Poland and a member of the Zionist Central Committee.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/steinhouse.html|title=The Real Oskar Schindler|last=Steinhouse|first=Herbert|date=1994|website=www.writing.upenn.edu|access-date=23 August 2018}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> In 1938, he was engaged to Sophia Backenrot, although the marriage was postponed until after the war.<ref name=":1" />


=== World War II ===
=== World War II ===
On 18 November 1939, during the early months of the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Nazi occupation of Poland]], Oskar Schindler was first introduced to Stern,<ref name="YV">{{cite web |url=http://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/schindler/yitzhak-stern-testimony |title=Testimony of Yitzhak Stern: Yitzhak Stern, May 1962, at a meeting of Schindler's survivors with their rescuer in Israel |publisher=[[Yad Vashem]] |access-date=August 27, 2017}}</ref> who was then working as an accountant for Schindler's fellow [[Abwehr]] agent Josef "Sepp" Aue, who had taken over Stern's formerly Jewish-owned place of employment as a {{Lang|de|Treuhander}} (trustee).{{sfn|Crowe|2004|p=100}} Schindler showed Stern the balance sheet of a company he was thinking of acquiring, an [[enamelware]] manufacturer called {{Lang|de|Rekord}} Ltd <!--{{efn|The full name of the company was Pierwsza Małopolska Fabryka Naczyń Emaliowanych i Wyrobów Blaszanych "Rekord".{{harvnb|Brzoskwinia|2008}}.}}!--> owned by a consortium of Jewish businessmen (including [[Abraham Bankier]]) that had filed for bankruptcy earlier that year.{{sfn|Crowe|2004|pp=107–108}} Stern advised him that rather than running the company as a trusteeship under the auspices of the {{Lang|de|[[Haupttreuhandstelle Ost]]}} (Main Trustee Office for the East), he should buy or lease the business directly, as that would give him more freedom from the dictates of the Nazis, including the freedom to hire more Jews.{{sfn|Crowe|2004|p=101}} Despite Stern being Jewish and Schindler being a member of the [[Nazi Party]], Schindler was friendly to Stern. Later, Stern said of the meeting:<ref name=":3" />
On the 18 of November 1939, during the early months of the [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|Nazi occupation of Poland]], Oskar Schindler was introduced to Stern,<ref name="YV">{{cite web |url=http://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/schindler/yitzhak-stern-testimony |title=Testimony of Yitzhak Stern: Yitzhak Stern, May 1962, at a meeting of Schindler's survivors with their rescuer in Israel |publisher=[[Yad Vashem]] |access-date=27 August 2017}}</ref> who was then working as an accountant for Schindler's fellow [[Abwehr]] agent Josef "Sepp" Aue, who had gained control of Stern's formerly Jewish-owned place of employment as a {{Lang|de|Treuhänder}} (trustee).{{sfn|Crowe|2007|p=100}} Schindler showed Stern the balance sheet of a company he was thinking of acquiring, an [[enamelware]] manufacturer called {{Lang|de|Rekord}} Ltd <!--{{efn|The full name of the company was Pierwsza Małopolska Fabryka Naczyń Emaliowanych i Wyrobów Blaszanych "Rekord".{{harvnb|Brzoskwinia|2008}}.}}!--> owned by a consortium of Jewish businessmen (including [[Abraham Bankier]]) that had filed for bankruptcy earlier that year.{{sfn|Crowe|2007|pp=107–108}} Stern advised him that rather than running the company as a trusteeship under the auspices of the {{Lang|de|[[Haupttreuhandstelle Ost]]}} (Main Trustee Office for the East), he should buy or lease the business directly, as that would give him more freedom from the dictates of the Nazis, including the freedom to hire more Jews.{{sfn|Crowe|2007|p=101}} Despite Stern being Jewish and Schindler being a member of the [[Nazi Party]], Schindler was friendly to Stern. Later, Stern said of the meeting:<ref name=":3" />


<blockquote>I did not know what he wanted and I was frightened... [until] December 1, we Polish Jews had been left more or less alone. They had [[Aryanization (Nazism)|Aryanized]] the factories, of course. And if a German asked you a question in the street it was compulsory for you to precede your answer with 'I am a Jew....' But it was only on December 1 that we had to begin wearing the [[Yellow badge#Nazi Germany and Axis Powers|Star of David]]. It was just as the situation had begun to grow worse for the Jews, when the [[Damocles#Sword of Damocles|Sword of Damocles]] was already over our heads, that I had this meeting with Oskar Schindler.</blockquote>
<blockquote>I did not know what he wanted and I was frightened... [until] 1 December, we Polish Jews had been left more or less alone. They had [[Aryanization (Nazism)|Aryanized]] the factories, of course. And if a German asked you a question in the street it was compulsory for you to precede your answer with 'I am a Jew....' But it was only on December 1st that we had to begin wearing the [[Yellow badge#Axis Powers|Star of David]]. It was just as the situation had begun to grow worse for the Jews, when the [[Damocles#Sword of Damocles|Sword of Damocles]] was already over our heads, that I had this meeting with Oskar Schindler.</blockquote>


In a later meeting, Stern informed Schindler that he could use Jewish slave labour to staff his [[Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory|factory]], ''{{lang|de|Deutsche Emaillewarenfabrik}}'' (German Enamelware Factory) at a lower price than Polish laborers, which would also allow those laborers to be protected from deportations. Schindler followed his suggestion, which began his rescue activities of Jews during the Holocaust.<ref name=":0" />
In a later meeting, Stern informed Schindler that he could use Jewish slave labour to staff his [[Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory|factory]], ''{{lang|de|Deutsche Emaillewarenfabrik}}'' (German Enamelware Factory) at a lower price than Polish laborers, which would also allow those laborers to be protected from deportations. Schindler followed his suggestion, which began his rescue activities of Jews during the Holocaust.<ref name=":0" />


Kraków's Jews were imprisoned in the [[Kraków Ghetto]] six months after German troops invaded Kraków. The ghetto was fully liquidated in 1943. Those considered useful (to be used as slave labor) were sent to [[Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp|Płaszów]], including Schindler's workers and Stern. The rest were sent to various [[Extermination camp|death camps]] across Poland. In Płaszów, Stern and his brother Natan, along with [[Mietek Pemper]] and [[Joseph Bau]], were forced to work in Płaszów's office, where they came into frequent contact with the camp's notorious commandant, [[Amon Göth]]. Stern helped Pemper in his efforts to prevent the closure and liquidation of Płaszów, knowing that while conditions there were terrible, liquidation likely meant the deaths of every prisoner.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The road to rescue : the untold story of Schindler's list|last=Pemper|first=Mieczysław|publisher=Other Press|others=With: Viktoria Hertling, Marie Elisabeth Müller, David Dollenmayer|year=2008|isbn=9781590514948|edition=First softcover|location=New York|oclc=707968457|author-link=Mietek Pemper}}</ref> Stern kept in contact with Schindler throughout this time and worked to better conditions for the Jews, including transferring workers to Schindler's factory, distributing aid money, and attempting to inform the outside world of their plight.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Oskar Schindler : the untold account of his life, wartime activities, and the true story behind the list|last=Crowe|first=David M.|author-link=David M. Crowe|date=2007|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=9780465002535|location=New York|oclc=85829223}}</ref>
Kraków's Jews were imprisoned in the [[Kraków Ghetto]] six months after German troops invaded Kraków. The ghetto was fully liquidated in 1943. Those considered useful (to be used as slave labour) were sent to [[Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp|Płaszów]], including Schindler's workers and Stern. The rest were sent to various [[Extermination camp|death camps]] across Poland. In Płaszów, Stern and his brother Natan, along with [[Mietek Pemper]] and [[Joseph Bau]], were forced to work in Płaszów's office, where they came into frequent contact with the camp's notorious commandant, [[Amon Göth]]. Stern helped Pemper in his efforts to prevent the closure and liquidation of Płaszów, knowing that while conditions there were terrible, liquidation likely meant the deaths of every prisoner.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The road to rescue : the untold story of Schindler's list|last=Pemper|first=Mieczysław|publisher=Other Press|others=With: Viktoria Hertling, Marie Elisabeth Müller, David Dollenmayer|year=2008|isbn=9781590514948|edition=First softcover|location=New York|oclc=707968457|author-link=Mietek Pemper}}</ref> Stern kept in contact with Schindler throughout this time and worked to better conditions for the Jews, including transferring workers to Schindler's factory, distributing aid money, and attempting to inform the outside world of their plight.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Oskar Schindler : the untold account of his life, wartime activities, and the true story behind the list|last=Crowe|first=David M.|author-link=David M. Crowe|date=2007 |orig-date=2004 |publisher=Basic Books|isbn=9780465002535|location=New York|oclc=85829223}}</ref>


In 1944, when the closure of Płaszów became inevitable, Schindler decided to open a new factory, the [[Brünnlitz labor camp]], in [[Brněnec]], occupied [[Czechoslovakia]], for his Jewish workers in order to prevent them from being sent to [[Extermination camp|death camps]]. Stern and the surviving members of his family were placed on the famous list to be transferred to Brünnlitz by Schindler, although Stern's mother died of illness when she, along with the other female {{Lang|de|[[Schindlerjuden]]}}, were transferred to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] before Schindler could arrange their transfer to Brünnlitz. The male {{Lang|de|Schindlerjuden}}, including Stern and Natan, were transported to [[Gross-Rosen concentration camp|Gross-Rosen]] before they were sent to the relative safety of Brünnlitz, where Stern worked directly with Schindler and became one of the leaders of the Jewish workers.<ref name=":2" /> Schindler, due to his Nazi Party and the Abwehr membership, was in danger of being arrested after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Stern and the other Jewish leaders wrote a letter attesting to Schindler's rescue of Jews, which they gave to Schindler before he fled to American lines.<ref name=":2" />
In 1944, when the closure of Płaszów became inevitable, Schindler decided to open a new factory, the [[Brünnlitz labor camp]], in [[Brněnec]], occupied [[Czechoslovakia]], for his Jewish workers in order to prevent them from being sent to [[Extermination camp|death camps]]. Stern and the surviving members of his family were placed on the famous list to be transferred to Brünnlitz by Schindler, although Stern's mother died of illness when she, along with the other female {{Lang|de|[[Schindlerjuden]]}}, was transferred to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]] before Schindler could arrange their transfer to Brünnlitz. The male {{Lang|de|Schindlerjuden}}, including Stern and Natan, were transported to [[Gross-Rosen concentration camp|Gross-Rosen]] before they were sent to the relative safety of Brünnlitz, where Stern worked directly with Schindler and became one of the leaders of the Jewish workers.<ref name=":2" /> Due to his membership in the Nazi Party and service in the Abwehr, Schindler was in danger of being arrested after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Stern and the other Jewish leaders wrote a letter attesting to Schindler's rescue of Jews, which they gave to Schindler before he fled to the Allied lines.<ref name=":2" />


=== Later life ===
=== Later life ===
After the liberation of the Brünnlitz camp by the [[Red Army]], Stern moved to Paris, France and eventually emigrated to [[Israel]].<ref name=":0" /> He advocated for Schindler to be recognized more broadly, even writing a pamphlet about his rescue activity.<ref name=":2" /> Stern remained friends with Schindler for the rest of his life, corresponding with him until his death in 1969. It was reported that Schindler "cried inconsolably" at his funeral.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wundheiler|first=Luitgard N.|date=1986|title=Oskar Schindler's Moral Development During the Holocaust|journal=Humboldt Journal of Social Relations|volume=13|issue=1 & 2|pages=333–356|jstor=23262673}}</ref>
After the liberation of the Brünnlitz camp by the [[Red Army]], Stern moved to Paris and eventually emigrated to Israel.<ref name=":0" /> He advocated for Schindler to be recognized more broadly, even writing a pamphlet about his rescue activity.<ref name=":2" /> Stern remained friends with Schindler for the rest of his life, corresponding with him until his death in 1969. It was reported that Schindler "cried inconsolably" at his funeral.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wundheiler|first=Luitgard N.|date=1986|title=Oskar Schindler's Moral Development During the Holocaust|journal=Humboldt Journal of Social Relations|volume=13|issue=1 & 2|pages=333–356|jstor=23262673}}</ref>


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==
In 1938, Stern was engaged to Sophia Backenrot, who survived the war due to her [[Aryan race|Aryan]] appearance in the [[Drohobycz Ghetto|Drohobycz ghetto]]. Their marriage was postponed until the end of the war in 1945. They remained married until Stern's death at age 68.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Oskar Schindler : stepping stone to life : a reconstruction of the Schindler story|last=O'Neil|first=Robin|date=2010|publisher=Susaneking.com|isbn=9780984594313|location=League City, Texas|oclc=841094409|author-link=Robin O'Neil}}</ref>
In 1938, Stern was engaged to Sophia Backenrot, who survived the war due to her [[Aryan race|Aryan]] appearance in the [[Drohobycz Ghetto|Drohobycz ghetto]]. Their marriage was postponed until the end of the war in 1945. They remained married until Stern's death at the age of 68.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Oskar Schindler : stepping stone to life : a reconstruction of the Schindler story|last=O'Neil|first=Robin|date=2010|publisher=Susaneking.com|isbn=9780984594313|location=League City, Texas|oclc=841094409|author-link=Robin O'Neil}}</ref>


== Legacy ==
== Legacy ==
He was portrayed in the 1993 film ''[[Schindler's List]]'' by English actor [[Ben Kingsley]]. At the end of the film, Stern's widow Sophia appears in a procession of {{Lang|de|[[Schindlerjuden]]}} and the actors who portrayed them, [[Bereavement in Judaism#Visiting the gravesite|placing stones]] on Schindler's grave on [[Mount Zion]], which is a Jewish tradition showing respect for the deceased. Stern's brother Natan was also one of the {{Lang|de|Schindlerjuden}} in the procession.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/steinhouse.html|title=The Real Oskar Schindler|website=www.writing.upenn.edu|access-date=2018-08-08}}</ref>{{notelist}}
He was portrayed in the 1993 film ''[[Schindler's List]]'' by English actor [[Ben Kingsley]]. At the end of the film, Stern's widow Sophia appears in a procession of {{Lang|de|[[Schindlerjuden]]}} and the actors who portrayed them, [[visitation stones|placing stones]] on Schindler's grave on [[Mount Zion]], which is [[Bereavement in Judaism#Visiting the gravesite|a Jewish tradition]] showing respect for the deceased. Stern's brother Natan was also one of the {{Lang|de|Schindlerjuden}} in the procession.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/steinhouse.html|title=The Real Oskar Schindler|website=www.writing.upenn.edu|access-date=8 August 2018}}</ref>{{notelist}}


==References==
==References==
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[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:Polish Jews in Israel]]
[[Category:20th-century Israeli Jews]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish Jews]]
[[Category:Citizens of Israel through Law of Return]]
[[Category:Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors]]
[[Category:Gross-Rosen concentration camp survivors]]
[[Category:Holocaust survivors]]
[[Category:Holocaust survivors]]
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[[Category:Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp survivors]]
[[Category:Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp survivors]]
[[Category:Polish accountants]]
[[Category:Polish accountants]]
[[Category:Polish expatriates in France]]
[[Category:Polish emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Polish emigrants to Israel]]
[[Category:Schindlerjuden]]
[[Category:Schindlerjuden]]
[[Category:People from Kraków]]

Latest revision as of 11:44, 16 December 2024

This article is about the accountant. For the violinist, see Isaac Stern. For the early Massachusetts settler, see Isaac Stearns.

Itzhak Stern
Born25 January 1901
Kraków, Grand Duchy of Cracow, Austro-Hungarian Empire
Died30 January 1969 (aged 68)[1]
Tel Aviv, Israel
OccupationAccountant
Known forAccountant of Oskar Schindler who assisted him in his wartime rescue activities.
Spouse
Sophia Backenrot
​
(m. 1945)​
RelativesNatan Stern (brother)

Itzhak Stern (25 January 1901 – 30 January 1969) was a Polish Jew and a Holocaust survivor, who worked for Sudeten-German industrialist Oskar Schindler and assisted him in his rescue activities during the Holocaust. After World War II, Stern moved to Israel.

Life

[edit]

Early life

[edit]

Stern was born 25 January 1901, in Kraków. He was an important leader in the Jewish community, and was the vice president of the Jewish Agency for Western Poland and a member of the Zionist Central Committee.[2][3] In 1938, he was engaged to Sophia Backenrot, although the marriage was postponed until after the war.[4]

World War II

[edit]

On the 18 of November 1939, during the early months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, Oskar Schindler was introduced to Stern,[5] who was then working as an accountant for Schindler's fellow Abwehr agent Josef "Sepp" Aue, who had gained control of Stern's formerly Jewish-owned place of employment as a Treuhänder (trustee).[6] Schindler showed Stern the balance sheet of a company he was thinking of acquiring, an enamelware manufacturer called Rekord Ltd owned by a consortium of Jewish businessmen (including Abraham Bankier) that had filed for bankruptcy earlier that year.[7] Stern advised him that rather than running the company as a trusteeship under the auspices of the Haupttreuhandstelle Ost (Main Trustee Office for the East), he should buy or lease the business directly, as that would give him more freedom from the dictates of the Nazis, including the freedom to hire more Jews.[8] Despite Stern being Jewish and Schindler being a member of the Nazi Party, Schindler was friendly to Stern. Later, Stern said of the meeting:[9]

I did not know what he wanted and I was frightened... [until] 1 December, we Polish Jews had been left more or less alone. They had Aryanized the factories, of course. And if a German asked you a question in the street it was compulsory for you to precede your answer with 'I am a Jew....' But it was only on December 1st that we had to begin wearing the Star of David. It was just as the situation had begun to grow worse for the Jews, when the Sword of Damocles was already over our heads, that I had this meeting with Oskar Schindler.

In a later meeting, Stern informed Schindler that he could use Jewish slave labour to staff his factory, Deutsche Emaillewarenfabrik (German Enamelware Factory) at a lower price than Polish laborers, which would also allow those laborers to be protected from deportations. Schindler followed his suggestion, which began his rescue activities of Jews during the Holocaust.[2]

Kraków's Jews were imprisoned in the Kraków Ghetto six months after German troops invaded Kraków. The ghetto was fully liquidated in 1943. Those considered useful (to be used as slave labour) were sent to Płaszów, including Schindler's workers and Stern. The rest were sent to various death camps across Poland. In Płaszów, Stern and his brother Natan, along with Mietek Pemper and Joseph Bau, were forced to work in Płaszów's office, where they came into frequent contact with the camp's notorious commandant, Amon Göth. Stern helped Pemper in his efforts to prevent the closure and liquidation of Płaszów, knowing that while conditions there were terrible, liquidation likely meant the deaths of every prisoner.[10] Stern kept in contact with Schindler throughout this time and worked to better conditions for the Jews, including transferring workers to Schindler's factory, distributing aid money, and attempting to inform the outside world of their plight.[3]

In 1944, when the closure of Płaszów became inevitable, Schindler decided to open a new factory, the Brünnlitz labor camp, in Brněnec, occupied Czechoslovakia, for his Jewish workers in order to prevent them from being sent to death camps. Stern and the surviving members of his family were placed on the famous list to be transferred to Brünnlitz by Schindler, although Stern's mother died of illness when she, along with the other female Schindlerjuden, was transferred to Auschwitz before Schindler could arrange their transfer to Brünnlitz. The male Schindlerjuden, including Stern and Natan, were transported to Gross-Rosen before they were sent to the relative safety of Brünnlitz, where Stern worked directly with Schindler and became one of the leaders of the Jewish workers.[3] Due to his membership in the Nazi Party and service in the Abwehr, Schindler was in danger of being arrested after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Stern and the other Jewish leaders wrote a letter attesting to Schindler's rescue of Jews, which they gave to Schindler before he fled to the Allied lines.[3]

Later life

[edit]

After the liberation of the Brünnlitz camp by the Red Army, Stern moved to Paris and eventually emigrated to Israel.[2] He advocated for Schindler to be recognized more broadly, even writing a pamphlet about his rescue activity.[3] Stern remained friends with Schindler for the rest of his life, corresponding with him until his death in 1969. It was reported that Schindler "cried inconsolably" at his funeral.[11]

Personal life

[edit]

In 1938, Stern was engaged to Sophia Backenrot, who survived the war due to her Aryan appearance in the Drohobycz ghetto. Their marriage was postponed until the end of the war in 1945. They remained married until Stern's death at the age of 68.[4]

Legacy

[edit]

He was portrayed in the 1993 film Schindler's List by English actor Ben Kingsley. At the end of the film, Stern's widow Sophia appears in a procession of Schindlerjuden and the actors who portrayed them, placing stones on Schindler's grave on Mount Zion, which is a Jewish tradition showing respect for the deceased. Stern's brother Natan was also one of the Schindlerjuden in the procession.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kean, Danuta (9 March 2017). "Real Schindler's list expected to make $2.4m in sale". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Steinhouse, Herbert (1994). "The Real Oskar Schindler". www.writing.upenn.edu. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e Crowe, David M. (2007) [2004]. Oskar Schindler : the untold account of his life, wartime activities, and the true story behind the list. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465002535. OCLC 85829223.
  4. ^ a b O'Neil, Robin (2010). Oskar Schindler : stepping stone to life : a reconstruction of the Schindler story. League City, Texas: Susaneking.com. ISBN 9780984594313. OCLC 841094409.
  5. ^ "Testimony of Yitzhak Stern: Yitzhak Stern, May 1962, at a meeting of Schindler's survivors with their rescuer in Israel". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  6. ^ Crowe 2007, p. 100.
  7. ^ Crowe 2007, pp. 107–108.
  8. ^ Crowe 2007, p. 101.
  9. ^ a b "The Real Oskar Schindler". www.writing.upenn.edu. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  10. ^ Pemper, Mieczysław (2008). The road to rescue : the untold story of Schindler's list. With: Viktoria Hertling, Marie Elisabeth Müller, David Dollenmayer (First softcover ed.). New York: Other Press. ISBN 9781590514948. OCLC 707968457.
  11. ^ Wundheiler, Luitgard N. (1986). "Oskar Schindler's Moral Development During the Holocaust". Humboldt Journal of Social Relations. 13 (1 & 2): 333–356. JSTOR 23262673.
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