FAQ for
Schindler's List (1993) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Schindler's List can be found here.

The little girl's jacket is red so that she stands out from the masses and the image makes a point and an impression. Schindler´s soul is touched by the child, he feels her pain, cries for her. The plight of the one little girl in red touches him in a way the sheer numbers make unreal, it is easy to get lost in numbers. He transforms the faceless mass around him into one real palpable human being. This one child is a symbol of all the 6.000.000 victims, exposed to ruthless slaughter. The little girl in the red coat footage gives a feeling of hope. You think that she may be able to get away, that she has a chance. The girl in red is also alluded to in the book, and was called "Genia." She was brought to the ghetto by a Polish couple, who had been looking after her for her parents, who were hiding out in the countryside -- but had planned to head for the ghetto themselves. She was delivered to the Dresners, as her mother was the first cousin of Mrs Dresner. She's said to have been very fond of the colour red, and was known as "Redcap." Another reason for the red coat may be Spielberg's way of addressing the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel. Wiesel's youngest sister, Tzipora, who was killed upon arrival at the concentration camp, was holding her red jacket, which was the last image Wiesel had of her. Spielberg may be paying tribute to this amazing novel.

Primarily for reasons of authenticity, realism, and also to make it feel like a historic documentation, since it is a true story. Spielberg himself has given this explanation as well, further motivating this artistic choice with the fact that almost all real documentation of the Holocaust he has seen has always been in black and white. To enhance the documentary feeling, the movie was primarily shot with handheld cameras, and contains no crane shots. Director of photography Janusz Kaminski has further added that black and white contributes to the agelessness of the movie, something the makers strove very hard for. For symbolic reasons, the little girl in the red coat, the tribute at Schindler's grave, and the beginning (the flames from the candles) are the only bits of color in the movie and it makes things stand out a little bit more.

They are real Schindler Jew survivors accompanied by the actors that portrayed them. Laying stones on a grave is a traditional sign of respect for Jewish people and is done especially when the individual was not present at the funeral of the deceased.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not director Steven Spielberg. It is Liam Neeson, the actor who portrayed Oskar Schindler, for respect and the fact that he was proud to portray such a historical figure. If the lone shot of Neeson is examined closely, he's obviously too tall to be Spielberg.

Yes, both were very real. The Plaszów labor camp was located in a southern suburb of Kraków and was presided over by the real Amon Göth. Under Göth's command, many thousands of Jews were killed there, it is documented that Göth was every bit as cruel and psychotic as the film depicts him. Schindler's factory, Deutsche Emaillewaren-Fabrik, also existed in the Kraków city limits. Schindler's efforts to bring Jewish prisoners to work in his factory are also documented.

Yes & no: Spielberg had a "mirror" camp built just outside of the famous archway that led into Auschwitz. Prisoners brought to Auschwitz for extermination arrived by train & the tracks led under the archway where they were unloaded & "processed" for death in the fake showers. Spielberg couldn't get permission to film within the walls of the actual camp so he had his production designers create a camp that closely resembled the interior of the camp on the outer side of the archway so a train could be used to depict the Schindler Jewish women being brought there. The actual camp is hidden through clever photography & cinematography.

Probably for dramatic effect, the pistols not firing were probably supposed to represent a miracle that saved Lewartow with some sort of mechanical failure of the Luger Göth 1st used & the CZ-27 he pulls out of his pocket. Speculation on those mechanical failures can be found here for the Luger and the CZ-27. It's also possible that both guns were loaded from the same box of ammunition, which may have been defective.

(Please see the discussion page for the reason why the last fact was removed.)