Novel
Schindler's Ark
Thomas Keneally · 1982
Synopsis
In occupied Poland, Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and Nazi party member, a drinker and womaniser, employs Jews subjected to forced labour in his factory in Kraków. Through bribes and favours, he protects them, houses them in a camp set up on the factory grounds and never stops defying the SS. The narrative passes through the Kraków ghetto and the Płaszów forced labour camp, commanded by Amon Göth.
Context
In 1980, the author went into a leather goods shop in Beverly Hills to buy a briefcase; the owner, Poldek Pfefferberg, who had been saved by Schindler, told him his story, showed him his files and later guided him as far as Poland. The book was published on 18 October 1982 by Hodder and Stoughton, and in the United States under the title Schindler's List. Based on fact, it was written as a novel, which caused debate when it was nominated. Steven Spielberg brought it to the cinema in 1993. The translation by François Dupuis was published in France in 1983 by Robert Laffont.
Who it is for
A book in English between novel and historical account, translated into French under the title La Liste de Schindler.
Prizes and reception
Booker Prize 1982, the first for an Australian novel; the judges settled the question of its literary genre.
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