Oskar Schindler
aka Sydney J.

I'm the main character in a movie that has won seven academy awards, every best picture award, and has become one of the most honored films of all time. Hello, I am Oskar Schindler and I was born on April 28, 1908.

My childhood was rough and as a result, I became tough. I was born into a wealthy business family and we lived in Zittawou, Moravia. Around the 1930's my family went bankrupt because of the Great Depression. I joined the Nazi party as a teenager and my mom and dad got divorced when I was twenty-seven which caused plenty of resentment towards my father. I was always very close to my older sister, Elfiede, throughout my life. My father owned a machinery factory and I attended a German language school.

Unlike most famous people, I didn't acquire any special talents or gifts as a child that led me to becoming famous. I did many bad things. However, as an adult, I came across a couple of situations in which I had to choose a side. Meanwhile, in Germany, Adolf Hitler assumed position of chancellor in 1933. I also traveled a lot for my job as a commerce man. Along with these issues, I was appalled by the illegal seizures of private property and how the Czech Republic was being bullied, mainly by Germany.

As an adult, I found myself helping the Jews more and more. I gave them jobs and never let the Nazis mistreat them and would complain if they tried. Early in the 1940's the Holocaust began and when I learned of Hitler's "Final Solution", I dedicated my life to helping the Jews. I smuggled weapons in to my factory and had Zionists give them military training during the war of 1944. It was a crime to make faulty ammo on purpose, but I still did it. I saved almost two thousand Jews.

Throughout my life, I never really had a mentor or someone who believed in me because I was a traitor. I was part of the Nazi party as a teenager and then I turned on them as an adult.

As soon as the Holocaust had ended and during the final years of my life, I moved back to Germany and started a cement company, which soon went out of business. Many of the Jews I saved stayed in touch with me and tried to help me however they could. I was honored many times in Israel and when I died on October 9th, 1974 my body was buried in a Catholic cemetery in Jerusalem. This was my wish. I happened to be sixty-six when I died of mysterious causes. I was a traitor, womanizer, gambler, drinker, Nazi spy, and yet to so many Jews, I was a savior.

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