Gold ducat Cult of personality - Oskar Schindler proof
Gold ducat Cult of personality - Oskar Schindler proof
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
Cult of personality
The eleventh gold ducat of the Czech Mint from the series entitled Cult of Personality commemorates the controversial figure of Oskar Schindler.
Oskar Schindler led a bohemian life. Alongside beautiful women, he enjoyed fast cars, alcohol and liked to dress well. To live the high life, the Svitavy native was willing to do anything, but he was not very successful in work and business, so he turned to Nazism. Not for nothing was he nicknamed "the crook" or "the schwindler". He first joined Henlein's infamous Sudeten German Party. Then he began to work as a paid spy in the service of German military intelligence, and as a Czechoslovakian he became a traitor. After the occupation of Czechoslovakia, he joined Hitler's NSDAP, and when the Second World War broke out, he acquired a Jewish factory in Krakow thanks to his devotion to the regime . Jews from the Kraków ghetto were in charge of the production of enamelware . Slave labour was, of course, more profitable for the entrepreneur than hiring paid employees, and Schindler became comfortably rich. However, while the Jewish community was gradually being liquidated all around, Schindler's factory, where more humane conditions prevailed, gained a reputation as a refuge. But then the Krakow ghetto was liquidated and its inhabitants were to be murdered. That's when something broke inside Schindler. With the help of bribes and high-level contacts, he created a list of Jews whom he safely transferred to his next venture, a munitions factory in the Moravian town of Brno. This effort was not entirely altruistic. After all, Schindler's business would have gone bankrupt without workers, and wealthier Jews provided him with extra money. But whatever the motives, which are still speculated about today, one thing is certain. At that time, 1,200 innocent people were saved from certain death in an extermination camp... At the end of the war, Schindler's kindness was returned. The Jews helped him escape from the Red Army and then testified to the Americans that they owed their lives to him. Later, they honored his humanity in inhuman times with the Israeli title of "Righteous Among the Nations." Today, the man whose remains rest in Jerusalem is an ambivalent figure - there are those who downplay his actions and others who uncritically glorify him .
The obverse side of the ducat, the work of academic sculptor Jiří Dostál, presents a faithful portrait of Oskar Schindler, complete with his name and life dates. The hint of a film strip refers to the award-winning biographical film that contributed to the spread of the Schindler cult. The reverse side is then dominated by the Star of David. "The dotted numeral 1098 represents the documented number of people Oskar Schindler saved. Embedded in the star is the title RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS, bestowed upon him by grateful Jews, " the author explains. The segments on the background of the reverse side evoke a swastika. The film strip is not missing here either .
Each ducat includes a special supplement that offers an objective view of Oskar Schindler through the eyes of historian Pavel Kosatik.