Telling a survivors story
Posted By richards on November 9, 2014
Meet Thomas Keneally, the man behind Schindlers Ark, the book behind the film, Schindlers List
Whoever Saves One Life, Saves the World Entire says the Talmud, the book of Jewish Law. Its a simple line that encapsulates the emotions of the Jews who were rescued from imminent extermination at the hands of the Nazis, by one man Oskar Schindler. The German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party saved the lives of 1,200 Jews, having employed them in his weapons and enamelware factories in occupied Poland and the Czech Republic during the Holocaust. His story inspired Australian author Thomas Keneallys Booker Prize-winning 1982 novel Schindlers Ark (Schindlers List in the US). Keneally visited Goa last month for the International Writers & Readers Festival 2014. In an exclusive to BusinessLine, the writer, whose book served as the basis for Steven Spielbergs moving holocaust drama Schindlers List (1993), spoke about the legacy of the acclaimed historical novel and the role of writers in shaping the world as it is today.
While writing Schindlers Ark, were you overwhelmed, having to relive the experiences of the survivors of such a painful history?
Yes, both in the writing process and after the book was published, there was a certain depression from the experience. You think you can get in easily and tell the story, and get out. Thats what writers and journalists always want to do.
They dont want to be touched by the story they just simply want to write it. In a process as long as a novel and its associated research, it is inevitable that there will be phases of personal torment nothing like what the people went through originally, but phases of it.
The thing is, I am not even Jewish. I was playing with other peoples stories. So I deserve to bear some of the weight of that. And you do bear some of it.
Tell us about Poldek Pfefferberg (the Holocaust survivor and one of Schindlers Jews) who inspired you to write the book.
Poldek aka Leopold was a very funny man and very bossy. I remember once, while researching the book, the two of us were in Poland. Out there, youre only allowed to exchange the local currency (zlotys) at the money exchange desk in the hotels. But if you traded it on the streets, you could get many more zlotys than the official rate. I always wanted to change the money legally, but Poldek wanted to do so on the streets and he did. When we were ready to leave Poland, we realised we were in trouble as we had too many zlotys.
However, at the airport, Poldek started offering the security officials parts in the movie (based on the book which wasnt even written at that stage!). I thought they were going to shoot us. But Poldek kept saying, Thomas, dont you think this man has exactly the right heroic Polish features we need for the film? Poldek had the right manners, demeanour and delivery to utter such complete rubbish with such conviction. To my amazement, the two soldiers gave him their names and addresses. Poldek said he would be in touch. And thus we got into the plane safe.
How did your novel catch Spielbergs attention?
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