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SCHINDLER'S LIST

Steven Spielberg's film about an unlikely hero of the Holocaust — factory owner and Nazi Party member Oskar Schindler — opened in small number of U.S. theaters on Dec. 15, 1993, 30 years ago today.

It would open nationwide on Feb. 4, 1994 and would go on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Spielberg's first Oscar for Best Director.

Telling The Tragic Story Of The Holocaust

The real Oskar Schindler served as a Nazi spy in Czechoslovakia before buying factories in Poland after Germany invaded that country in 1939. Schindler bribed German officials to allow him to use Jewish labor. Over time, Schindler became protective of his work force and worked to keep them from being sent to concentration camps. He died in 1974 at age 66.

A real life photo of Oskar Schindler.

Steven Spielberg became interested in the story when he read a New York Times review of Thomas Keneally's 1982 novel “Schindler's Ark.” Planning to tackle the project ten years later, he hired Kurt Luedtke — who had written the screenplay for “Out of Africa” — to write a script, but Luedtke gave up after four years, finding Schindler's real-life actions unbelievable.

A photo from a concentration camp.

Spielberg tried to recruit other directors for the project: Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Billy Wilder and Roman Polanski. He finally decided to direct the film himself after he noticed how Holocaust deniers were gaining traction in the media. Universal Pictures offered to fund the movie — but only if Spielberg would make “Jurassic Park” first.

A still from the movie Schindler's List of Schindler with families in a train boxcar.

Spielberg considered Kyle MacLachlan, Warren Beatty and Harrison Ford to play Schindler. Kevin Costner lobbied for the role. Spielberg said he wanted an unknown actor whose “star quality” wouldn't overpower the character. He eventually settled upon Liam Neeson, whose work on this film would earn him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

A still from Schindler's List of Schindler on the train platform of the concentration camp speaking with a SS guard.

The character of Schindler's accountant, Itzhak Stern, was a composite of three real-life associates of Schindler's: his accountant, Stern; the manager of his factory, Abraham Bankier; and German SS officer Amon Göth's personal secretary, Mietek Pemper. Spielberg offered the role to Dustin Hoffman, who declined. He hired Ben Kingsley instead.

A still from Schindler's List of Schindler and his assistant working in his office.

Ralph Fiennes' character of Amon Göth oversees the construction and population of a concentration camp, brutalizes a number of Jews — including his maid — and enjoys randomly shooting Jews from the balcony of his villa. Schindler is careful to maintain his friendship with Göth and to continue to bribe him in order for Schindler to save as many Jews as possible.

Amon Goth on his perch, half undressed shooting at concentration camp inmates.

When Spielberg first showed his longtime music collaborator, John Williams, a rough cut of “Schindler's List,” Williams needed to take a brief walk outside to pull himself together. He then told Spielberg that he deserved a better composer for this project. “I know,” Spielberg replied, “but they're all dead.” Williams' soundtrack would win an Academy Award.

Oskar Shindler in Shindler's List crying as he says goodbye.

There is a Jewish tradition that when one visits a grave, one leaves a small stone on the marker as a sign of respect. Halfway through production, Spielberg had an idea for an epilogue to the film in which 128 actual Holocaust survivors would visit Schindler's actual grave in Jerusalem. The unseen man at the end who places a rose instead of a stone: Liam Neeson.

Both a still from the movie, and the real life grave of Oskar Shindler with the rose atop it.

Schindler's List By The Numbers

1200

Number of Jews Oskar Schindler saved during the Holocaust by giving them jobs in his factories in German-occupied Poland, Bohemia and Moravia.

3

Age of Oliwia Dąbrowska when she played the girl in the red coat. Spielberg made her promise not to watch the movie until she was 18. She broke her promise, watched it when she was 11 and said she was “horrified.”

28

Pounds Ralph Fiennes gained in order to play Amon Göth, commandant of the Kraków- Płaszów concentration camp. Spielberg cast him because of his “evil sexuality.”

20,000

Extras used in the film, mostly in expansive scenes of concentration camps and roundups of Jews. The movie had 126 speaking parts.

0$

Amount of money Steven Spielberg made from “Schindler's List.” Instead, he donated his percentage of the film's profits to found the USC Shoah Foundation, which preserves oral and written histories about the Holocaust.

10

Number of films Steven Spielberg has made about or relating to World War II, including “Empire of the Sun,” “1941,” “Saving Private Ryan,” and the Indiana Jones movies.

7

Academy Awards won by “Schindler's List,” including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score.


Sources: Hollywood Reporter, Time magazine, the London Guardian, Mental Floss, History.com. PHOTO OF OSKAR SCHINDLER FROM THE UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM. ALL OTHERS FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES.

This edition of Further Review was adapted for the web by Zak Curley.