Oskar Schindler’s Factory (Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik) in Krakow Today
Oskar Schindler’s Factory — officially the Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (German Enamelware Factory), abbreviated DEF — is a former enamelware and metalware plant at Lipowa 4 in the Zabłocie district of Kraków, Poland. German entrepreneur Oskar Schindler took over the bankrupt Polish-Jewish-owned «Rekord» factory in November 1939 and renamed it DEF; by 1944, he employed roughly 1,100 mostly Jewish workers, protecting them from deportation to concentration camps. The story became world-famous through Thomas Keneally’s novel Schindler’s Ark and Steven Spielberg’s film «Schindler’s List» (1993).
Today, the administrative building houses a branch of the Historical Museum of Kraków, with the permanent exhibition «Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945» — officially known in Polish as Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera. This guide is a complete, room-by-room walk-through of all 32 sections of the museum, based on a personal visit and illustrated with original photographs alongside rare archival images. A separate section on visiting today (hours, tickets, getting there) follows the historical tour below.
Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik translates from German simply as «German Enamelware Factory» — commonly abbreviated DEF, the stamp found on original enamelware pots and pans produced here between 1940 and 1944. Some sources also render the name with a double «l» as Deutsche Emaillewarenfabrik; both spellings refer to the same enterprise. The name replaced the original Polish «Rekord» branding after Oskar Schindler took over the plant, and it remained in use until the German evacuation of the factory to Brünnlitz in 1944–45.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OSKAR SCHINDLER’S FACTORY: DEUTSCHE EMAILWARENFABRIK (DEF), 1936–2007
In the period between the two World Wars, this site on the outskirts of Krakow was a production home to the ‘’Krakow factory for the production of wire, mesh, and metal products by Władysław Kukharski’’. In 1936, three wealthy Krakow Jews rented several production workshops from the plant and bought a piece of land outside the city, which would later become the famous Lipowa 4. Already in the same year, the new owners built a stamping room for metal processing, a pickling premise to remove dirt, and an enameling one for enameling. The new enterprise was named ‘’LLC RECORD First Malopolska factory of enamelware and metal products’’.
The ‘RECORD’ factory was declared bankrupt already in the summer of 1939, several months before the outbreak of war and the German occupation. In November of the same year, the Czechoslovak entrepreneur Oskar Schindler was put in charge of the board of trustees of the factory. On January 15, 1940, Schindler succeeded in renting the factory buildings at Lipowa 4, and later, thanks to the assets from Jewish investors, acquired the whole territory into ownership, changing the official name to “Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik” or DEF. Oskar Schindler obtained full ownership only two years later, in 1942. Other buildings, workshops, and premises were completed in the same year. In particular: dining room, stables, accounting, and three more workshops: a turning hall, a pressing machine hall, and a tool room. Later on, another stamping workshop was added, as well as warehouses for manufactured goods. In 1944, a new stamping room, designed by Siemens, was added.
At the start, the workers of the DEF (Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik) were mainly Polish citizens, but gradually the focus of the workforce was shifted to Jews from the Krakow ghetto. Initially, they covered the distance to work on foot from the ghetto, and after its elimination, walked from the Plaszow labor camp. Later, Oskar Schindler received permission to build a labor camp within the adjacent site with living conditions much better than in Plaszow. With the elimination of Plaszow and the approach of the Red Army, Oskar Schindler evacuated his enterprise to his hometown of Brünnlitz in the Czech Republic, and the DEF was closed. Two years later, the territory of the former Oskar Schindler’s factory in Krakow was nationalized. For more than half a century, from 1949 to 2002, the production of ‘TELPOD telecommunication hubs’ operated at Lipowa 4. Only in 2005, the territory returned to the use of the city of Krakow, and since 2007, the exposition of the ‘Krakow Historical Museum’ called ‘Krakow. The period of occupation, 1939-1945, has been located here.
OSKAR SCHINDLER’S HOUSE (VILLA) IN KRAKOW: TADEUSZA ROMANOWICZA 9, STEPS FROM THE DEF FACTORY
Just one block from the famous Oskar Schindler’s “Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik” factory, at Tadeusza Romanowicza 9, you can find one of the former properties owned by Oskar Schindler. Very few tourists praise the existence of this building, only a couple of hundred meters from the DEF. For most of the time spent in Krakow, Oskar Schindler lived in an apartment on the third floor of the building at Straszewskiego 7, which we saw in the “Schindler’s List” by Steven Spielberg. This very apartment is often mentioned within the “Schindler’s Ark” book by Thomas Keneally, whereas in contrast, there is no information about the villa near the DEF Schindler factory. At the same time, the building that once belonged to Oskar Schindler has remained almost unchanged since the 1940s.
DEUTSCHE EMAILWARENFABRIK (DEF) FRONT SIDE: THE ORIGINAL GATE AND THE FABRYKA SCHINDLERA ENTRANCE TODAY
The front side of the former “Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF)” building, or, as we know it, the Oskar Schindler factory in Krakow, Poland, has changed little since the occupation of Krakow and the entrepreneurial activity of Oskar Schindler during the war. We can still observe the same two columns on either side of the entrance, the forged gate at the entrance, the rounded front of the building with windows, and the windows on the second and third floors. The original gates were eventually replaced by the modern ones. The second and third floors are covered with facing plaster today. And, of course, the modern entrance to the “Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera” museum from the front of the building along Lipowa 4 did not exist in the 1930s and 1940s and was added after the passing into the ownership of Krakow in 2005.
Today, four LED lamps have been installed right above the main gate of the former Oskar Schindler Factory to illuminate the entrance at night. To their left, on the six stained-glass windows, the museum exhibits photographs of some of the “Schindler’s children” – Jews who once worked within the Schindler DEF factory and survived the war. Photos of survivors of different post-war ages were memorialized on more than 200 tablets. For example, the portrait of Mila Prefferberg, known for the “Schindler’s List” movie, depicts this woman in old age.
A semicircular stand with exhibitions of the city of Krakow faces the entrance of the building at Lipowa 4. To the left of the door, there are two plates, made figuratively in the shape of metallic gears with inscriptions in Polish and English. The smaller one is titled: KRAKOWSKI SZLAK TECHNIKI – ”Krakow’s industrial heritage route”. The bigger one: is FABRYKA SCHINDLERA and the text: ”This production and warehouse complex was built in 1936 as a facility for the ‘Record’ metalwork factory. Between 1939 and 1944, the DEF factory belonged to Oskar Schindler, who hired the workers among the Jews, otherwise threatened to be destroyed. In 1948, the plant’s territory was expanded and used to house an enterprise for the production of telecommunications hubs.
Still, to the left, between the two windows, we see a black metal sign with inscriptions in Polish, English, and Hebrew. The first contains the very name of the historic site – ”Oskar Schindler Factory. 1939-1944”. Below is the famous dictum from the Talmud: “Whoever saves one life saves the entire world”. Next, the name and surname of Oskar Schindler in English and the years of his life: 1908-1974. And below, the creators of the tablet are mentioned. Jewish Community Council of Krakow. Students and faculty of Albion College (Michigan, USA).
THE MAIN HALL: SCHINDLER’S LIST CINEMA CAFE, GIFT SHOP AND TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
All expositions of the “Krakow. The occupation period of 1939-1945″ exhibition occupy three floors of the main building on Lipowa Street 4 and are divided into several parts. Out of the gate, the visitor is greeted by a small piece of the exhibit – a real spindle press for metal pressing (made back in 1908), as well as the workshop carts transferred to the museum by the Emaliya factory, originating from the Polish city of Olkusz. Unfortunately, the original press machines of the Oskar Schindler Factory have not survived to this day.
There used to be a small room to the right of the entrance, which was once used by cleaners to spend time and keep the inventory. Today it is a part of the museum exposition, representing more than 200 photographs of the “Schindler’s Jews” who survived. There is a copy of the same photos that can be seen outside.
Passing into the depth of the hall on the first floor, we find a thematic gift shop. Here you can buy books on the Holocaust, the history of Poland and Krakow, and historical photo albums. As well as enameled souvenir cups with the signature of FABRYKA EMALIA OSKARA SCHINDLERA, magnets with the LIPOWA 4 signature, postcards, and “Schindler’s Ark” book by Thomas Keneally in different languages. Here you can take a small booklet for free with a brief description of the museum exhibition. Immediately behind the store, there is a reception desk where entrance tickets are sold six days a week.
Perhaps the most atmospheric place on the first floor, in the main hall of Oskar Schindler’s Factory in Krakow, can be found within a themed cafe dedicated to Steven Spielberg’s ”Schindler’s List” masterpiece. Several frames of the movie are placed inside the frames. For example, one photo depicts a moment when Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) walks lengthwise on the railway platform with Yitzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley). In addition, you can see a large photograph of the shooting process on the glass partition, with Steven Spielberg at the head. The most interesting part of the interior is the tables with the images from the movie and even a three-dimensional model of the Plaszow camp replica, recreated for filming in a Liban quarry.
There is another room between the cafe and the main entrance to the museum exposition – the Hall for temporary exhibitions. As the name implies, thematic expositions connected with the history of Krakow and coordinated by the Krakow Historical Museum are exhibited here. At the actual exhibition in May 2018, the greatest impression was made by the installation of shadows – figures of people illuminated from the side and rotating in a circle, casting dark shadows.
PHOTOGRAPHER AND PHOTOPLASTIKON: PRE-WAR KRAKOW, 1918–1939
We get to the first floor (in fact, as in Germany, the second floor from the ground). A small imitation of the pre-war photo studio tells about the life of Krakow in the period between the two World Wars. Devices of the first half of the twentieth century, city cinema and theater posters, as well as an impressive photoplasticon of the time. In addition to newspapers, residents of Krakow used to read important news, including the military annexations conquered by Germany in the second half of the 1930s. These photos of the photoplasticon prepare the visitor for a fundamental change in the history of Poland and Krakow, in particular in 1939. The photographic plates also depict ordinary residents of different religions, ages, and social statuses in Krakow.
STATION WAITING ROOM: KRAKOW RAILWAY STATION ON THE EVE OF WAR, SUMMER 1939
This exhibition symbolizes the intense pre-war period, on the eve of the outbreak of the Second World War. We see typical (for the waiting room) benches on two sides, under the imitation of the window facing the platform. One of the benches accommodates bags and knapsacks with belongings, as a symbol of the upcoming path and unknown fate. Through the imitation of the window, we observe a video of a real Krakow railway station, footage from the summer of 1939. Civilians arriving in the city or leaving for faraway places in the outback. Mobilized men with things that would soon have to defend their homeland from two aggressors (the Third Reich and the USSR). There are newspaper clippings of the 1938-1939s on the walls of this waiting room, in particular, a document announcing the partial mobilization of the male population in August 1939.
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR: GERMAN INVASION OF POLAND, SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
Directing our visit from the waiting room, we reveal a part of the exposition, which symbolizes the beginning of the Second World War and the German attack on Poland on September 1, 1939. The voices of the railway platform are being replaced by the sounds of military operations, dive bombers, machine-gun bursts, and emergency messages on national Polish radio. Rightward in the hole, we experience a replica of a Polish fortification with a machine gun and a rifle, both manufactured back in the times of the Great War (First World War). An archive newsreel of the Polish campaign is accessible using one of the openings, and there are samples of uniforms of the Polish army. In particular, the officer’s uniform, helmets, binoculars, and a service pistol. A little further, we manage a minified metal copy of a Polish tankette (small tank) dating back to the 1930s, re-modeled according to the drawings of the actual war vehicle. These small self-propelled vehicles, made with an eye on the British models, armed with only a 20 mm machine gun, had been heroically engaged in battle with the present-day Wehrmacht tanks. We see crumpled military equipment on the battlefield on the wall behind the tanket.
GERMAN OCCUPATION OF KRAKOW: THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT AND HANS FRANK
The first military exposition room passes into a small premise, symbolizing the hallway in a typical Polish apartment building of September 1939. A baby buggy in the corner and the flashing mailboxes of the apartments both refer to the tragic news from the front, as well as from Polish men who were captured or arrested by the Germans in September 1939. A little further, you can see a few letters of the Polish prisoners of war. From here we turn left into a narrow corridor, making a hair curling with the Nazi swastika banners of bloody red colors. On both sides, German agitation posters were recreated on the walls, as well as orders of the new administration, in particular on the creation of the so-called General Government with Krakow as a nominal capital. Hans Frank, the general governor of the new pseudo-political formation, performed his duties in a cabinet in the Wawel Castle in the heart of the city.
KRAKOW CITY SQUARE, 1939: «FUR JUDEN» SEGREGATION AND THE TRAM CAR REPLICA
We can observe German soldiers erecting a swastika over Krakow in one of the enlarged photographs in the next room. Dozens of photographs of the city of Krakow, its inhabitants, the first examples of racial discrimination against Jews, and the actions of the occupation authorities are exhibited behind the glass. German editions and portraits of Adolf Hitler are visible behind the imitation of one of the windows of the city, a bookstore. A peculiar gem of this exposition is the layout of the front part of the Krakow tram car, reconstructed in full size. At the front, you can see route number 6, as well as one of the end stations – the ”Kraków Salvator” area. Behind the car, you can experience a photo of a traffic controller, as well as two inscriptions in large letters: FUR JUDEN (For Jews) and FUR NICHT JUDEN (For non-Jews). These titles symbolize racial segregation in the city, defining public places where Jews could not appear in Krakow.
SONDERAKTION KRAKAU: ARREST OF THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, NOVEMBER 6, 1939
The next room in Krakow. The Occupation period of 1939-1945 exhibition tells us a sad story of a planned terror against the Polish intelligentsia. Museum replica of the lecture hall of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow, in which the members of the professorial college had been convened and arrested on November 6, 1939. The Germans could not allow the opposition and preservation of the intellectual heritage of the Polish people. University announcements are posted on the stand behind the glass, and a post-war model of lecture shops of the 1930s, with a professorial portfolio, and a real teaching chair of the end of the 19th century are visible ahead. Immediately behind the seat, we see a model of the back of the truck, similar to those the arrested were taken.
THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT: HANS FRANK’S WAWEL CASTLE ADMINISTRATION AND THE KRAKOW STAATSTHEATER
Ahead, we can observe an enlarged copy of the Krakow newspaper cover story with a photograph of Hans Frank, a former lawyer of Adolf Hitler, who was appointed as the governor of one of the three administrative divisions in the territory of conquered Poland. The newspaper announces the official arrival of Frank in the Wawel Castle on November 7, 1939, from where he will manage his “kingdom of terror”. Further ahead and to the right on the wall, there are pictures of the daily life of the inhabitants of the city after the establishment of the new orders. There are photographs of the marching German military, and the big screen reflects footage of the demonstrations, parades, and holidays, which the residents of the occupied Krakow now have to endure. One of the five museum composters stands near the wall, where (on a small cardboard card) one can stamp the date on the imitation of the document dated September 1, 1940. Directly above it, behind the glass, one can observe the preserved stamps of that period, the original documents, and special badges. In a corner on a small screen, video interviews with former residents of the city are played.
A metal NSDAP badge is attached to the right side of the large concrete arch. Behind it, on the left, under the glass below, there are samples of German weapons: the legendary MP-40 machine gun, as well as several pistols. Behind them, we can observe the samples of porcelain of that time and books in German, the subjects of which are connected with Poland. On the right side of this room, we see a variety of architectural plans for changing the image of Krakow, as well as photographs of those works that were indeed carried out. Above one of the arches, there is a large metal plate. On either side of the Nazi eagle holding a swastika in its claws, we can read the words STAATS THEATER, and below DES GENERALGOUVERNEMENTS. Intendant: Friedrich Franz Stampe (State General-Government Theater, Leader: Friedrich Franz Stampe).
TERROR: MONTELUPICH PRISON AND THE FIRST MASS EXECUTIONS IN OCCUPIED KRAKOW
This chilling and awe-inspiring part of the museum exposition conveys the violent measures that were carried out by the occupying authorities to completely subjugate the Polish and Jewish population of the city of Krakow. We see a Jewish man with a Star of David on his shoulder, next to a smiling young German soldier in a full-height enlarged photo. This is a fragment of the scene of one of the first large-scale evacuations of Jews from Krakow to other areas of the General Government. The sign “Ulica MONTELUPICH”, letters of hostages and prisoners, and objects for torture, symbolize pre-planned terror against the population. Also, photos of the Montelupich Prison and a replica of a death ward cell symbolize one of the most sinister places in the city and the first place of mass executions, even before the ‘’final solution of the Jewish question’’ was put into operation. The photographs depict the execution of civilians, in particular, by hanging directly on the streets of Krakow.
EVERYDAY LIFE IN KRAKOW, 1940–1941: THE TRAM CAR REPLICA AND RATION CARDS
The layout of the interior of the Krakow tram car, made in real terms, is a key element of the exhibition within this part of the museum. Wooden benches attached to the driver’s door, and the daily newspapers of the city, form a historical perspective of the period. The four imitations of the carriage windows show synchronous newsreels of Krakow’s daily life during the occupation. Despite the terror against the population and racial intolerance, hundreds of thousands of men and women, children, and the elderly struggled to survive in this new world of the occupation of their homeland. We see propaganda pictures of the German newsreel, which show us smiling and happy people, for example, a boy who cheerfully holds products in his arms. There are the preserved originals of ration cards, according to which the Poles could receive a meager set of products, and the rest had to be obtained on the black market.
KRAKOW CENTRAL STATION (KRAKAU HBF): THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT RAILWAY MAP
A large metal plate with the ”KRAKAU hbf.” title in German opens the installation of the Krakow Central Railway Station. We see the train schedule, as well as a large map of the General Government with the designations of such cities as Lublin, Lemberg (Lviv), Chelm, Tarnow, and Warsaw in the north. Another sign at the door with a window indicates the passage to Platform 1 (ZUM BAHSTEIG 1), and the other – the descent to the apron B. On the wall, you can also see photos of people and trains from the time.
MASS ROBBERY IN THE KRAKOW GHETTO: THE FAMOUS SCHINDLER’S LIST STAIRCASE
We see a sign symbolizing the decree of March 3, 1941, which prescribed the creation of a Jewish ghetto in Krakow in the Podgóřze district, with the Jewish population moving there until March 20. Those inspired by the legendary “Schindler’s List” movie will immediately recognize the famous flight of stairs. Oskar Schindler, played by Liam Neeson, had an office shown at the top right of this staircase. It is of interest that this flight of stairs was added to the building of the former Oskar Schindler’s Factory after the war and has connected the first and second floors. On the walls, we see the original street signs that were a part of the Krakow ghetto, or on which Jews lived before forced evictions: Straszewskiego, Ciemna, Szeroka, Koletek, etc. The wall on the right shows photographs of the relocation of the Jews into the ghetto, and there is a screen at the top of the stairs with the newsreels of the exodus of the Jews to Podgorze. A showcase exhibits values that were taken away from the Jewish population during the robberies: clocks, paintings, and Jewish menorah candlesticks.
THE LABOR OFFICE: DEF WORK CARDS AND FORCED LABOR IN THE KRAKOW GHETTO
The so-called Labor Office of the Krakow ghetto was located at Jozefinska 10 at the time of the occupation. This bureaucratic German body was responsible for employing all Jews older than 14, mostly in German enterprises outside the ghetto. The exhibition in a small office on the second floor, up the stairs to the right, reveals the theme of forced labor, which the German occupying authorities had organized in Poland and Krakow, in particular. In the corner, on a hanger, you can see a typical working form of the time. The originals of the working papers, which, in the case of the Jews, had to be received each month anew at the Employment Bureau. The work cards of the former employees of the Oskar Schindler Factory, known as “Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik” or DEF, who worked in this very building seventy-five years ago. It’s a matter of interest that “Schindler’s List” depicts this room upstairs as the office of Oskar Schindler, which in reality was located further down the floor.
KRAKOW PLANTY: CINEMA AND PROPAGANDA UNDER GERMAN OCCUPATION
This unusual name refers to the park ring around the Old Town in Krakow, where Polish citizens used to spend time during the occupation. Since the cinema repertoire was thoroughly controlled by the occupation authorities, most of the footage shown in Krakow was German. Among them, there were propaganda movies about the superiority of the Aryan race, the victories of the Wehrmacht, and the false pictures of the happy life of Poland. Despite a similar repertoire, cinema remained a popular leisure activity in the city of Krakow. There is a projector in the middle of the room, which shows a typical propaganda film about racial hygiene in the new ideology. The photograph on the side shows the inhabitants of Krakow, who arranged a queue at the ticket office. Further ahead, there is a cinematic track with a projector inside. UBERTRAGUNGSWAGEN, which can be translated as ‘‘a car with a radio broadcasting installation”.
THE KRAKOW GHETTO: WALL CONSTRUCTION AND OVERCROWDED LIVING, MARCH 1941
We pass the cinema room in occupied Krakow to enter a dark maze with an imitation of the stone walls of the Krakow ghetto. The first turn faces us with a photograph of men engaged in the construction of the wall in March 1941, with the top in the form of Jewish gravestones. On the walls, the exhibition offers to get acquainted with real photos from the ghetto, as well as quotes from the survivors, which are highlighted against a dark background. The ceiling here is also made of stone, symbolizing a prison inside the city for several tens of thousands of people.
After coming back to the light, we see figures of men and women in full growth, with infamous bands with the Star of David on the sleeves. Further, behind the glass, the atmosphere of the overpopulated ghetto areas was recreated, with up to several families living in one room – the scene emotionally conveyed in the movie “Schindler’s List”. Behind the glass, an installation shows apartments and people crowded with poor belongings. A mom with a child, a woman at the sewing machine, an old woman with crutches, and an elderly man in the kitchen, filled with washed clothes.
EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE KRAKOW GHETTO, 1941–1943: BARBAROSSA AND THE POLISH RESISTANCE
We pass the imitation of overcrowded dwellings in the Krakow ghetto to find ourselves in a light, long corridor. On the right, you can see several tablets marking the important stages of wartime. Among them were the German attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, the discovery of traces of war crimes by the Soviets in the Katyn forest, and the strengthening of the Polish resistance movement in the city. On the left wall, you can see various German propaganda posters of a military nature, increased circulation of local newspapers, and photographs with descriptions of everyday life in Krakow from 1941 to 1943.
SECRETARIAT OF OSKAR SCHINDLER: THE REAL ‘DEF’ OFFICE STAFF WHO SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST
We manage the real secretariat of Oskar Schindler, which was located here during the work of the DEF Factory. On the left and right behind the glass, there are photographs of the factory, with a brief description of its history, as well as the biography of Schindler himself. You can see the increased number of shots of the former employees of the factory who managed to survive the Holocaust. Documentation about the work of the enterprise is collected in numerous folders and volumes. On the table, the composition of Secretary Schindler is recreated, which includes a hat, a desk lamp, a typewriter, a telephone, a composter, and a director’s call button. Items are not from the original DEF work times. Several leather briefcases from that time are placed on the hanger.
OSKAR SCHINDLER’S OFFICE AT THE DEF FACTORY: HIS DESK, THE RESTORED EUROPE MAP, AND THE NAMES OF 1,100 SCHINDLER’S JEWS
While “Schindler’s List” once depicted the office on the site of today’s exposition of the labor office, at the top of the staircase, the real office of Schindler was located here, in the depths of the second floor. Three parts of the exhibition deserve attention. First, a real working table of Oskar Schindler, his family photos, as well as a desk lamp, a folder, and a telephone from the 1940s. The second noteworthy element is the authentic map of Europe on the wall, which was located here during the work of Oskar Schindler as director of the “Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik”. Although after the war its original appearance was disturbed by erasing German inscriptions, restoration work has been done to reveal the fact and appearance. The third element in the room is, of course, a glass cube, with the enamelware of the 1940s. There is an entrance 2 * 2 meters room inside the cube with the names of all the Schindler Jews.
THE MAIN SQUARE IN 1943: CULTURAL LIFE IN OCCUPIED KRAKOW
Coming out of the office of Oskar Schindler, we find ourselves in the next large exhibition area. We face the figures of people, recreated at full height within the glass partitions from the photographs. We see a Polish boy selling a press approved by the occupation authorities. Women who are trying to maintain a beautiful appearance and vitality smile at the photographer. Men, poets, artists – former cultural figures, who sit at the table, organizing unobvious meetings of the Polish intelligentsia. Separate stands tell the story of those remnants of cultural life in occupied Krakow in 1943.
THE POLISH UNDERGROUND STATE: A CONSPIRATORIAL APARTMENT IN OCCUPIED KRAKOW
We have already seen the recreated interior of a cramped dwelling in the Krakow ghetto, and here we find ourselves in a modestly furnished dwelling of a member of the Polish underground. There were dozens of banned organizations, groups, and meetings in Krakow during the occupation. Men usually gathered in one of the apartments in the evenings, where they discussed important news, printed and distributed illegal leaflets, taught young people, and agreed on planned actions, even violent ones. The exposition has original items that at one time belonged to the members of the Resistance, in particular, samples of weapons, and wartime underground leaflets.
LIQUIDATION OF THE KRAKOW GHETTO, MARCH 13–14, 1943
The action to liquidate the Krakow ghetto was perpetrated by the German administration on March 13-14, 1943. The left wall of the long, dark corridor represents an imitation of the ghetto wall, with photographs of those tragic events on the right-hand side, with raids on the streets, massacres, and forced relocation of able-bodied people to labor camps, especially to Plaszow. The end of the tunnel reflects the exposure of belongings piled up, a horse’s child’s toy, and beds — an image of the chaos and disorder that was organized. Behind the bend on the wall, you can see a schematic depiction of the ghetto, the Liban quarry, and the Plaszow camp.
KL PLASZOW: THE LABOR CAMP THAT REPLACED THE KRAKOW GHETTO FOR DEF WORKERS
First labor, and after the concentration camp Plaszow, had become the place where 8000 inhabitants of the Krakow ghetto, who were deemed suitable for further work, were forcibly driven. We see an enlarged panorama of the camp, taken from a hill. Here, in capital letters, in English, there is a quote from one of the Holocaust survivors, Mila Hornik. “Graveyard is all around, a gravestone and a funeral home, and several lonely barracks. We were all depressed, telling each other that there was no turning back from the cemetery”. The most remarkable part of this exhibition deals with the gateway of Plaszow, which survived the war and today is kept here as part of the exhibition. Large gravel is scattered on the floor in the room to create the impression of a labor camp and a quarry in the very heart of the former Oskar Schindler’s factory.
GERMAN PROPAGANDA POSTERS: ANTI-SEMITIC AND ANTI-BOLSHEVIK CAMPAIGNS, 1939–1945
After dark images of the Plaszow camp, the excursion passes to the first floor. The unremarkable flight of stairs exhibits an unobvious part of the museum exhibition. German propaganda posters of the time of the occupation of Krakow. The earlier ones were anti-Semitic and racial and were intended to blacken the Jewish population of the city and the Jews of Europe as a nation. The later propaganda posters conveyed an anti-Bolshevik character and called on the Polish population to side with Germany in the common struggle against the advancing Red Army from 1944 to 1945.
KRAKOW BARBERSHOP, 1944: THE PLOT AGAINST SS OFFICER WILHELM KNOPP
This part of the exhibition restores the atmosphere of a barbershop in Krakow as it was back in 1944. Orders from the occupation authorities cover the walls, and announcements are heard on the radio. A kind of graphic composition, reminiscent of comics, tells about the assassination attempt of members of the Polish resistance movement against Wilhelm Knopp, the highest SS officer within the General Government. The entourage and, more importantly, the original equipment of the first half of the twentieth century, were transferred to the museum as a gift. Until 1993, it had been used for more than half a century in the urban hairdressing salon of Jozef Drabik.
THE BASEMENT: ADAM KOWALSKI AND THE POLES WHO HID KRAKOW’S JEWS
This small dark room presents an idea of the conditions in which the surviving Jews of Krakow were hidden by Polish citizens, under the threat of their death. In 1944, several raids took place in the city of Krakow, one of which was a response to the Warsaw Uprising. Behind the shelves with canned goods and empty cans, we see two small bunks and a hanger with the poor belongings of the people hiding. The information plate here recollects the story of Adam Kowalski, who hid ten Jewish fugitives from the Krakow ghetto in the basement of his house. He dared to bring the radio there, and there could be no punishment for this except death.
THE LAST MONTHS OF GERMAN OCCUPATION: KRAKOW’S FORTIFICATIONS, LATE 1944
In advance of the arrival of the Red Army, the Germans evacuated the German population and the most important enterprises from the Krakow area. Local Poles were occupied with the construction of fortifications to try to turn the city into a fortress. There are dozens of photographs of anti-air bunkers, anti-tank ditches, barriers, air defense points, and kilometers of barbed wire. Machine guns, anti-tank handguns, and a cannon are also represented here. A little further, in the next room, we can observe an imitation of the defensive bunker at the end of 1944.
THE RED ARMY ENTERS KRAKOW: LIBERATION AND THE NEW SOVIET REGIME, JANUARY 1945
Multimedia screens and photographs convey the phasing of the liberation of Krakow. The Germans had previously left the city without bloody battles, so the ”liberation” was no more than nominal. The second room exhibits a portrait of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. After the German occupation of Krakow, the soldiers of the Red Army installed similar paintings on the streets of Krakow, thus proclaiming their victory and strength.
THE HALL OF CHOICE: THE RIGHTEOUS (SPRAWIEDLIWI) AND THE INFORMERS OF OCCUPIED KRAKOW
The marble walls of this hall place quotations, stories, and biographies (in English, Polish, and Hebrew) of people who opposed the German occupation, saved the innocent, and fought for freedom. Several rotating disks present opposed examples of the absence of compassion and the will for justice. The following room with two books is of great museum interest. The so-called “WHITE” book, in which SPRAWIEDLIWI (The Righteous) is written in Polish, tells us about the resistance fighters, people who sheltered Jews and refugees, social workers, and those who did not lose their moral behavior even during the war. The second, “BLACK” book called INFORMERS (Scammers) talks about collaborators, henchmen of the regime, informers of the Gestapo, and policemen who adapted themselves to the war in their own way.
THE INNER COURTYARD OF SCHINDLER’S FACTORY: THE FAMOUS SCHINDLER’S LIST STAIRCASE FROM OUTSIDE
Passing the Hall of Choice, we have the opportunity to get into the inner courtyard of Oskar Schindler’s factory in Krakow – the same one behind the main gate, from where Oskar Schindler drove out to his car, both the real one and the hero of Liam Neeson from the “Schindler’s List” movie. It is worth repeating that this is not the original gate from the 1940s, but it gives the proper impression as part of a building. We observe the same flight of stairs from the movie from the outside – a beautiful construction made of glass. The door below is closed to visitors. Another building here has been occupied by the Museum of Modern Art since 2011.
VISITING OSKAR SCHINDLER’S FACTORY TODAY: HOURS, TICKETS, GETTING THERE, AND NEARBY WW2 SITES
Location & hours
The museum is located at ul. Lipowa 4, 30-702 Kraków, in the Zabłocie district. Opening hours (2026): Monday 10:00–15:00, Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–20:00, closed on the first Tuesday of every month. Last entrance is 1.5 hours before closing.
Tickets (2026 prices): Normal ticket 60 PLN, reduced 45 PLN, family ticket (up to 4 people) 120 PLN. A guided tour in English is available Tuesday–Sunday at 10:00, 12:00, and 16:00 (90 PLN normal / 75 PLN reduced). Admission is free on Mondays, but tickets cannot be booked in advance and are limited — arrive early. Tickets can be purchased online up to 90 days ahead.
Getting there: The nearest tram stops are Plac Bohaterów Getta and Zabłocie, both roughly a 10–15 minute walk from the museum — check current tram lines, as routes have changed over the years. Kraków Zabłocie railway station is a few minutes’ walk away and just two stops from Kraków Główny (the main station). From the Main Square, allow around 30 minutes on foot or roughly 10–15 minutes by tram.
Nearby WW2 and historical sites: The Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK), occupying the former factory production halls, is immediately adjacent. Across the river in the former ghetto area, Ghetto Heroes Square (Plac Bohaterów Getta), the Eagle Pharmacy and the former Krakow Ghetto are a short walk or tram ride away. The Plaszow concentration camp memorial site — where many DEF workers were held before Schindler secured his own sub-camp — is about 5 km further south. The filming locations of «Schindler’s List» around Kraków make for a natural extension of the visit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I take photos inside Oskar Schindler’s Factory? Yes — personal photography and video are allowed throughout the exhibition; please keep the flash off.
How long does it take to visit? Around 2 hours for the full permanent exhibition across its 30+ themed sections.
What did Schindler’s factory actually make? Under the «Rekord» owners, it produced enamelware and tin goods; under Schindler’s DEF, it made enamel kitchenware for the civilian market and, from 1942, military mess kits and ammunition shell casings — production that let Schindler classify the plant as essential to the German war effort.
Is Oskar Schindler’s Factory the same as the Schindler Museum? The historic building is shared by two separate institutions: the Historical Museum of Kraków’s exhibition «Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945» in the former administration building (covered in this article), and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAK) in the former production halls next door.
Does the factory still exist? The building survives largely intact. Production continued here under state ownership (Telpod telecommunications equipment) until 2002; the site became a museum in 2007.
Is this the building shown in «Schindler’s List»? Yes — the exterior and courtyard were used as filming locations, though some interior scenes (including the office attributed to Schindler in the film) were relocated for dramatic purposes; the real DEF office is described in the section above.
I am very grateful to war archives, museums, libraries, private collections, and writers for the historical photos in this article. To the extent that some author or a copyright owner may not want some of the above black-and-white photos to be used for educational purposes here, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me for adding credits or deleting the pictures from the article.