Footsteps of WWII · Poland
Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory, Kraków
Museum · Nov 1939 – Oct 1944
The story
In November 1939 the German businessman Oskar Schindler took over the bankrupt Rekord enamelware works at Lipowa 4 in Kraków's Zabłocie district and renamed it Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF). He first hired Jews from the ghetto because they were cheap, but came to protect them. When the ghetto was destroyed he persuaded Amon Göth, commandant of Płaszów, to let him run a sub-camp at the factory; by 1944 about 1,100 Jews worked here. In autumn 1944 he moved his workers to Brünnlitz in Moravia. About 1,200 people on his lists survived. The factory is now a branch of the Museum of Kraków.
What to look for
The original gate and administration building, with Schindler's office and a wall of photographs of the people he saved. The main exhibition, 'Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945', covers the whole city's war: the invasion, the ghetto, Płaszów and resistance, using reconstructed streets and rooms.
Plan your visit
Tue–Sun 9:00–20:00, Mon 10:00–15:00 (free but limited and not bookable); closed the first Tuesday of each month. 60 PLN. Timed tickets online up to 90 days ahead; they often sell out, so book early and bring ID. Check the website before you go.
Things change, so check opening times before you travel.
Nearby sites
- Auschwitz I (main camp), Oświęcim · 54 km
- Auschwitz II-Birkenau · 56 km
All 160 sites in Footsteps of WWII →
Footsteps of WWII: Europe 1939–1945
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The whole Second World War in Europe, from the first shots at Westerplatte on 1 September 1939 to the German surrender in May 1945: Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, Normandy, Arnhem, Bastogne, Stalingrad, Berlin and the camps, in 15 areas from Britain to Russia.
Open the guide