Schindler, Oskar
£7,500
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 4 May 2016 at 12:00 BST
Description
Autograph letter signed to Itzhak Stern from Oskar Schindler, 21 x 15 cm on both sides of Hotel Garni Preussischer Hof notepaper, undated but thought to be c.1950
Footnote
Note: The letter, written in German, thanks Mr Stern for his friendly greetings, which he also received from a friend of Stern's, Hollerthal. Schindler proceeds to comment that the conversation with Hollerthal was eclipsed by Mr Hollerthal's experiences at an "Auschwitz event."
Schindler continues to write that Mr Hollerthal would bring a tape recording from their "friends in Los Angeles" to Stern, for inclusion in the "Schindler Archive". Schindler also mentions that Poldek Pfefferberg has produced a television programme including things which Schindler had witnessed during the war, and that he has the opportunity to, "produce a motion picture."
Itzhak Stern (1901-1969) was Oskar Schindler's accountant, credited with typing Schindler's list of names of Jewish people who survived the Holocaust as a result of Schindler's efforts. Poldek Pfefferberg (1913-2001) was a Polish-American Holocaust survivor who had worked in Schindler's enamelware factory, and described him as a "modern Noah". Following the Second World War, Pfefferberg settled in Los Angeles with his wife, and tried several times to bring Schindler's story to the attention of screenwriters. In 1980, several years following Schindler's death, Pfefferberg met Thomas Keneally and advised him on the writing of his book, Schindler's Ark, and a few years later he advised Steven Spielberg on the filming of Schindler's List.
This is an unusual letter, written by Oskar Schindler, referring both to the Holocaust and to Pfefferberg's early attempts to bring Oskar Schindler's story to the world.