Silver medal Cult of personality - Oskar Schindler proof
Silver medal Cult of personality - Oskar Schindler proof
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
Cult of personality
The controversial figure of Oskar Schindler appears on the eleventh silver medal of the Czech Mint from the Cult of Personality series.
Oskar Schindler was no saint and there was a reason why he became known as a "crook" or "schwindler" in his native Svitavy. He was an incorrigible drunkard and womanizer who cheated on his wife. He loved fast cars and smart clothes. He longed to live the high life, but was not successful as a salesman or businessman. To make himself secure, he decided to join Henlein's Sudeten German Party. As a Czechoslovak citizen, he committed treason when he began selling information to the Abwehr - German military intelligence - and joined Hitler's NSDAP after the occupation. His Nazi sympathies led him to acquire a Jewish factory in Krakow after the outbreak of World War II . Most of his employees were Jews from the Krakow ghetto. 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. When its inhabitants were about to be exterminated, Schindler's life underwent an internal transformation. At the cost of considerable effort - with the help of bribes and high-level contacts - he created a list of employees, whom he safely transferred to his next enterprise in the Moravian town of Brno. This act was not entirely selfless, as Schindler's business would have failed without the workers, but regardless of the motives, which are still disputed today, one thing is certain. Some 1,200 Jews were saved from being transported to an extermination camp, and therefore from certain death... At the end of the war, Schindler's kindness was repaid. With the help of his staff, he escaped from the Red Army to the American occupation zone, where he was set free on the basis of the testimony of the rescued Jews. After the war, this story quickly became a household word. Schindler was awarded the Israeli title of "Righteous Among the Nations" for his humanity in an inhumane time and was eventually buried in Jerusalem. Today he is an ambivalent figure - there are those who uncritically glorify him and others who downplay his actions .
The obverse side of the medal, which is the work of academic sculptor Jiří Dostál, presents a faithful portrait of Oskar Schindler, supplemented 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.
An integral part of the issue is a special supplement that offers an objective view of Oskar Schindler through the eyes of historian Pavel Kosatik.