Oskar Schindler quotes from Schindler's List (1993)

Oskar Schindler

It is my distinct pleasure to announce the fully operational status of Deutsche Emailwaren Fabrik - manufacturers of superior enamelware crockery, expressly designed and crafted for military use, utilizing only the most modern equipment. DEF's staff of highly skilled and experienced artisans and journeymen deliver a product of unparalleled quality, enabling me to proffer with absolute confidence and pride, a full line of field and kitchen ware unsurpassable in all respects by my competitors. See attached list and available colors. Anticipating the enclosed bids will meet with your approval. And looking forward to a long and mutually prosperous association. I extend to you, in advance, my sincerest gratitude and very best regards. Oskar Schindler.

Oskar Schindler

I'm not saying you'll regret it, but you might. You should be aware of that.

Oskar Schindler

I violated the Race and Resettlement Act. Though I doubt anyone can point out the actual provision to me. I kissed a Jewish girl.

Oskar Schindler

My father was fond of saying you need three things in life - a good doctor, a forgiving priest, and a clever accountant. The first two, I've never had much use for.

Oskar Schindler

The train with the women has already left Plaszow and will be arriving here very shortly. I know you've had a long journey, but it's only a short walk further to the factory where hot soup and bread is waiting for you. Welcome to Brinnlitz.

Oskar Schindler

What are you doing? These are mine. These are my workers. They should be on my train. They're skilled munitions workers. They're essential. Essential girls. Their fingers polish the insides of shell metal casings. How else am I to polish the inside of a 45 millimeter shell casing? You tell me. You tell me!

Oskar Schindler

Under Department W provisions, it is unlawful to kill a worker without just cause. Under the Businesses Compensation Fund, I am entitled to file damage claims for such deaths. If you shoot without thinking, you go to prison, I get paid, that's how it works. So, there will be no summary executions here. There will be no interference of any kind with production. In hopes of ensuring that, guards will no longer be allowed on the factory floor without my authorization. [to the Commanding Officer, Josef Liepold] For your cooperation, you have my gratitude.

Oskar Schindler

No doorman or maitre d' will ever mistake you again. I promise.

Oskar Schindler

Sun's going down...What day is today? Friday? It is Friday, isn't it?...What's the matter with you? You should be preparing for the Sabbath, shouldn't you? I've got some wine in my office. Come.

Oskar Schindler

The unconditional surrender of Germany has just been announced. At midnight tonight, the war is over. Tomorrow you'll begin the process of looking for survivors of your families. In most cases... you won't find them. After six long years of murder, victims are being mourned throughout the world. We've survived. Many of you have come up to me and thanked me. Thank yourselves. Thank your fearless Stern, and others among you who worried about you and faced death at every moment. I am a member of the Nazi Party. I'm a munitions manufacturer. I'm a profiteer of slave labor. I am... a criminal. At midnight, you'll be free and I'll be hunted. I shall remain with you until five minutes after midnight, after which time - and I hope you'll forgive me - I have to flee. [He addresses the factory's SS guards] I know you have received orders from our commandant, which he has received from his superiors, to dispose of the population of this camp. Now would be the time to do it. Here they are; they're all here. This is your opportunity. Or, you could leave, and return to your families as men instead of murderers. [the guards gradually exit; he addresses the workers again] In memory of the countless victims among your people, I ask us to observe three minutes of silence.

Schindler

There's a company you did the books for on Lipowa Street, made what - pots and pans?

Stern

By law, I have to tell you, sir, I'm a Jew.

Schindler

Well, I'm a German, so there we are. A good company you think?

Stern

Modestly successful.

Schindler

I know nothing about enamelware, do you?

Stern

I was just the accountant.

Schindler

Simple engineering, though, wouldn't you think? Change the machines around, whatever you do, you could make other things, couldn't you? Field kits, mess kits, army contracts. Once the war ends, forget it, but for now it's great. You could make a fortune, don't you think?

Stern

I think most people right now have other priorities.

Schindler

Like what?

Stern

I'm sure you'll do just fine once you get the contracts. In fact, the worse things get, the better you will do.

Schindler

Oh, I can get the signatures I need - that's the easy part. Finding the money to buy the company, that's hard.

Stern

You don't have any money?

Schindler

Not that kind of money. You know anybody? Jews, yeah. Investors. You must have contacts in the Jewish business community working here.

Stern

What "community"? Jews can no longer own businesses. That's why this one's in receivership.

Schindler

Ah, but they wouldn't own it. I'd own it. I'd pay them back in product. Pots and pans.

Stern

Pots and pans.

Schindler

Something they can use. Something they can feel in their hands. They can trade it on the black market, do whatever they want. Everybody's happy. If you want, you could run the company for me.

Stern

Let me understand. They'd put up all the money. I'd do all the work. But what, if you don't mind my asking, would you do?

Schindler

I'd make sure it's known the company's in business. I'd see that it had a certain panache - that's what I'm good at, not the work, not the work - the presentation.

Stern

I'm sure I don't know anybody who'd be interested in this.

Schindler

Well, they should be, Itzhak Stern. Tell them they should be.

Do you have any idea how much a shirt like this costs?

Schindler

Nice things cost money.

How many?

Schindler

I'm going to need some other things too as things come up...

This won't be a problem.

Schindler

...from time to time.

Schindler

For each thousand you invest, I will repay you with two hundred kilos of enamelware a month, to begin in July and to continue for one year - after which time we're even. That's it. It's very simple.

Not good enough...

Schindler

Not good enough? Look where you're living. Look where you've been put. 'Not good enough.' A couple of months ago, you'd be right. Not anymore.

Money's still money.

Schindler

No it is not. That's why we're here. Trade goods, that's the only currency that'll be worth anything in the ghetto. Things have changed, my friend. Did I call this meeting? You told Mr. Stern you wanted to speak to me. I'm here. I've made you a fair offer.

Fair would be a percentage of the company.

Schindler

Forget the whole thing. Get out.

How do we know that you will do what you say?

Schindler

Because I said I would. Do you want a contract? To be upheld by what court? I said what I'll do, that's our contract.

Stern

The standard SS rate for Jewish skilled labor is seven marks a day, five for unskilled and women. This is what you pay the Reich Economic Office, the Jews themselves receive nothing. Poles you pay wages. Generally, they get a little more. Are you listening?...The Jewish worker's salary - you pay it directly to the SS, not to the worker. He gets nothing.

Schindler

But it's less. It's less than what I would pay a Pole...That's the point I'm trying to make. Poles cost more. Why should I hire Poles?

Schindler

My father was fond of saying you need three things in life. A good doctor, a forgiving priest, and a clever accountant. The first two, I've never had much use for them. But the third…

Schindler

Just pretend, for Christ's sake.

Stern

Is that all?

Schindler

I'm trying to thank you. I'm saying I couldn't have done this without you. The usual thing would be to acknowledge my gratitude. It would also, by the way, be the courteous thing.

Stern

You're welcome.

Schindler

Three hundred and fifty workers on the factory floor with one purpose...to make money - for me!...They won't soon forget the name Schindler either. I can tell you that. Oskar Schindler, they'll say. Everybody remembers him. He did something extraordinary. He did something no one else did. He came here with nothing, a suitcase, and built a bankrupt company into a major manufactory. And left with a steamer trunk, two steamer trunks, full of money. All the riches of the world...There's no way I could have known this before, but there was always something missing. In every business I tried, I can see now it wasn't me that had failed. Something was missing. Even if I'd known what it was, there's nothing I could have done about it, because you can't create this thing. And it makes all the difference in the world between success and failure.

Emilie

Luck.

Schindler

War.

Stern

I somehow left my work card at home. I tried to explain them it was a mistake, but...I'm sorry, it was stupid.

Schindler

What if I got here five minutes later? Then where would I be?

Schindler

I go to work the other day. Nobody's there. Nobody tells me about this. I have to find out, I have to go in. Everybody's gone.

Goeth

They're not gone. They're here.

Schindler

They're mine! Every day that goes by, I'm losing money. Every worker that is shot costs me money. I have to find somebody else. I have to train them.

Goeth

We're going to be making so much money, none of this is going to matter.

Schindler

It's bad business.

Goeth

Scherner told me something else about you.

Schindler

Yeah, what's that?

Goeth

That you know the meaning of the word 'gratitude.' That it's not some vague thing with you like it is with others. You want to stay where you are. You've got things going on the side, things are good. You don't want anybody telling you what to do. I can understand all that. You know, I know you. What you want is your own sub-camp. Do you have any idea what's involved? The paperwork alone? Forget you got to build the **** thing, getting the **** permits is enough to drive you crazy. Then the engineers show up. They stand around, they argue about drainage, foundations, codes, exact specifications, parallel fences four kilometers long, twelve hundred kilograms of barbed wire, six thousand kilograms of electrified fences...I'm telling you, you'll want to shoot somebody. I've been through it, you know, I know.

Schindler

Well, you know, you've been through it. You could make things easier for me. [Goeth shrugs] I'd be grateful.

Schindler

So, what can I do for you?

They say that no one dies here. They say your factory is a haven. They say you are good.

Schindler

Who says that?

Everyone. My name is Regina Perlman, not Elsa Krause. I've been living in Krakow on false papers since the ghetto massacre. My parents are in Plaszow. Their names are Chana and Jakob Perlman. They are older people. They're killing older people now in Plaszow. They bury them up in the forest. Look, I don't have any money. I-I borrowed these clothes, I'm begging you - please, please bring them here.

Schindler

I don't do that. You've been misled. I ask one thing: whether or not a worker has certain skills. That's what I ask and that's what I care about...Such activities are illegal. You will not entrap me, Miss Krause. Cry and I'll have you arrested, I swear to God.

Schindler

People die, it's a fact of life. He wants to kill everybody? Great, what am I supposed to do about it? Bring everybody over? Is that what you think? Send them over to Schindler, send them all. His place is a 'haven,' didn't you know? It's not a factory, it's not an enterprise of any kind, it's a haven for rabbis and orphans and people with no skills whatsoever. You think I don't know what you're doing? You're so quiet all the time. I know. I know.

Stern

Are you losing money?

Schindler

No, I'm not losing money, that's not the point.

Stern

What other point is -

Schindler

It's dangerous! It's dangerous to me. You have to understand, Goeth is under enormous pressure. You have to think of it in his situation. He's got this whole place to run, he's responsible for everything that goes on here, all these people - he's got a lot of things to worry about. And he's got the war. Which brings out the worst in people. Never the good, always the bad. Always the bad. But in normal circumstances, he wouldn't be like this. He'd be all right. There'd just be the good aspects of him - which - he's a wonderful crook. A man who loves good food, good wine, the ladies, making money -

Stern

- killing -

Schindler

He can't enjoy it....What do you want me to do about it?

Stern

Nothing, nothing. We're just talking.

Schindler

Perlman.

Schindler

Why don't you build yourself up?

Helen

My first day here, he beat me because I threw out the bones from dinner. He came down to the basement at midnight and he asked me where they were - for his dogs...I said to him, 'Why are you beating me?' He said, 'The reason I beat you now is because you ask why I beat you.'

Schindler

I know your sufferings.

Helen

It doesn't matter. I have accepted them...One day, he will shoot me.

Schindler

No, he won't shoot you.

Helen

I know. I see things. We were on the roof on Monday, young Lisiek and I, and we saw the Herr Kommandant come out of the front door and down the steps by the patio right there below us. And there on the steps, he drew his gun - he shot a woman who was passing by. A woman carrying a bundle, through the throat. Just-just a woman on her way somewhere. You know, she-she was no fatter or thinner or slower or faster than anyone else and I couldn't guess what had she done. The more you see of Herr Kommandant, the more you see there is no set rules that you can live by. You can say to yourself, 'if I follow these rules, I will be safe.'

Schindler

He won't shoot you because he enjoys you too much. He enjoys you so much, he won't even let you wear the star. He doesn't want anyone else to know it's a Jew he's enjoying. He shot the woman from the steps because she meant nothing to him. She was one of a series - neither offending or pleasing him. But you, Helen. [He leans closer, as she pulls away] It's all right. It's not that kind of a kiss. [He tenderly kisses her on the forehead]

Goeth

You know, I look at you. I watch you. You're not a drunk. That's, that's real control. Control is power. That's power.

Schindler

Is that why they fear us?

Goeth

We have the **** power to kill, that's why they fear us.

Schindler

They fear us because we have the power to kill arbitrarily. A man commits a crime, he should know better. We have him killed and we feel pretty good about it. Or we kill him ourselves and we feel even better. That's not power, though, that's justice. That's different than power. Power is when we have every justification to kill - and we don't.

Goeth

You think that's power.

Schindler

That's what the emperors had. A man stole something, he's brought in before the emperor, he throws himself down on the ground, he begs for mercy, he knows he's going to die. And the emperor pardons him. This worthless man, he lets him go.

Goeth

I think you are drunk.

Schindler

That's power, Amon. That is power. [gestures toward Goeth as a merciful emperor] Amon, the Good.

Goeth

I pardon you.

Schindler

What do you say we get your fire hoses out here and hose down the cars? Indulge me.

Goeth

This is really cruel, Oskar, you're giving them hope. You shouldn't do that. That's cruel.

Schindler

I'm going home. I've done what I came here for. I've got more money than any man can spend in a lifetime. Someday this is all going to end, you know. I was going to say we'll have a drink then.

Stern

I think I'd better have it now.

Goeth

You want these people?

Schindler

These people, my people, I want my people.

Goeth

Who are you, Moses? Come on, what is this? Where's the money in this, where's the scam?

Schindler

It's good business.

Goeth

Yeah, it's 'good business' in your opinion. Look, you've got to move them, the equipment, everything to Czechoslovakia, pay for all that and build another camp. It doesn't make any sense...You're not telling me something.

Schindler

It's good for me. I know them, I'm familiar with them, I don't have to train them. It's good for you. I'll compensate you...It's good for the Army. You know what I'm going to make?...Artillery shells...tank shells. They need that, everybody's happy.

Goeth

Everyone's happy except me. You're probably scamming me somehow. If I'm making a hundred, you've got to be making three. And if you admit to making three, then it's four, actually. But how?

Schindler

I just told you.

Goeth

Yeah, you did, but you didn't. Yeah, all right, don't tell me, I'll go along with it. It's just irritating I can't work it out.

Schindler

Look, all you have to do is tell me what it's worth to you. What's a person worth to you?

Goeth

No, no, no, no. What's one worth to you?

Schindler

That's it. You can finish that page.

Stern

What did Goeth say about this? You just told him how many people you needed, and - you're not buying them. You're buying them? You're paying him for each of these names?

Schindler

If you were still working for me, I'd expect you to talk me out of it. It's costing me a fortune. Finish the page and leave one space at the bottom.

Stern

The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.

Schindler

I'll never find a maid as well-trained as her in Brinnlitz. They're all country girls...She's just going to Auschwitz # 2 anyway. What difference does this make?

Goeth

She's not going to Auschwitz. I'd never do that to her. No, I want her to come back to Vienna with me. I want her to come work for me there. I want to grow up old with her.

Schindler

Are you mad? Amon, you can't take her to Vienna with you.

Goeth

No, of course I can't. That's what I'd like to do. What I can do, if I'm any sort of a man, is the next most merciful thing. I should take her into the woods and shoot her painlessly in the back of the head...What is it you said for a natural twenty-one? Fourteen thousand, eight hundred?

Hoss

I have a shipment coming in tomorrow. I'll cut you three hundred units from it. New ones. These are fresh. The train comes, we turn it around. It's yours.

Schindler

Yes, I understand. I want these.

Hoss

You shouldn't get stuck on names. That's right. It creates a lot of paperwork.

Stern

We've received an angry complaint from the Armaments Board. The artillery shells, tank shells, rocket casings, apparently all of them have failed quality-control tests.

Schindler

Well, that's to be expected - start-up problems. This isn't pots and pans. This is a precise business. I'll write them a letter.

Stern

They're withholding payment.

Schindler

Sure. So would I. So would you. I wouldn't worry about it. We'll get it right one of these days.

Stern

There's a rumor you've been going around miscalibrating the machines. They could shut us down, send us back to Auschwitz.

Schindler

I'll call around, find out where we can buy shells, pass them off as ours.

Stern

I don't see the difference. Whether they're made here or somewhere else.

Schindler

You don't see a difference? I see a difference.

Stern

You'll lose a lot of money, that's the difference.

Schindler

Fewer shells will be made. Stern, if this factory ever produces a shell that can actually be fired, I'll be very unhappy.

Stern

Do you have any money hidden away someplace that I don't know about?

Schindler

No. Why, am I broke?

Stern

Uh, well...

Schindler

I could have got more out. I could have got more. I don't know. If I'd just... I could have got more.

Stern

Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you. Look at them.

Schindler

If I'd made more money... I threw away so much money. You have no idea. If I'd just...

Stern

There will be generations because of what you did.

Schindler

I didn't do enough!

Stern

You did so much.

Schindler

This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people.

Schindler

This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. I could have gotten one more person... and I didn't! And I... I didn't!

Schindler

I could try to read this, or I could eat my lunch while it's still hot. We're doing well?

Stern

Yes.

Schindler

Better this month than last?

Stern

Yes.

Schindler

Any reason to think next month will be worse?

Stern

The war could end.

Stern

How many cigarettes have you smoked tonight?

Schindler

Too many.

Stern

For every one you smoke, I smoke half.

Goeth

Oskar, there's a clerical error here at the bottom of the last page.

Schindler

No, there's one more name I want to put there. I'll never find a maid as well trained as her at Brinnlitz. They are all country girls.

Goeth

No. No.

Schindler

One hand of twenty-one. If you win, I pay you 7,400 Reichsmarks. Hit a natural and I make it 14,800. If I win, the girl goes on my list.

Goeth

I can't wager Helen in a card game.

Schindler

Why not?

Goeth

Wouldn't be right.

Schindler

She's going to Auschwitz Number Two anyway. What difference does it make?

Goeth

She's not going to Auschwitz. I'd never do that to her. No, I want her to come back to Vienna with me. I want her to come to work for me there. I want to grow old with her.

Schindler

Are you mad? Amon, you can't take her to Vienna with you.

Goeth

No, of course I can't. That's what I'd like to do. What I can do, if I'm any sort of a man, is the next most merciful thing. I should take her into the woods and shoot her painlessly in the back of the head. What was it you said for a natural 21? Was it 14,800?