I was reading through a series of postings after finally having some free time to write another blog. Interestingly enough it's based on a non-fictionary character in Schindler's List. (Credits to Austin Harvey on AllThatsInteresting)
Amon Goeth
"A Nazi concentration camp commandant, Amon Goeth, an Austrian SS Officer, terrorized countless Jews — until he was executed for his crimes in 1946," says Harvey in his blog posting. Responsible for over 10,000 deaths, the man undoubtedly was on a high hitlist. But how did his name reach popularity?
The Accountability of Goeth
As Harvey suggests, he could have been forgotten unless it wasn't for Schindler's List released in 1993. It's said that he was even crueller than the film perpetrated him, which perhaps without digging deep into historical accounts may have set him off the hook.
Goeth has been forever cemented as Oskar Schindler’s adversary, thanks to Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Goeth in the film. And with this notoriety, the true horrors of Goeth’s crimes weren’t just brought to light but also carried into the realms of pop culture and movie history. (Harvey)
Goeth joined the Austrian Nazi Party in his youthful years where he grasped many concepts he liked. He came a member in his early 20s around 1932 when he officially joined the SS. While he was there, he committed many illegal crimes that set him at risk of being arrested so this is when he fled to Germany to escape these arrests. It wasn't until the Anschluss was enacted that he finally returned back to his homeland, as Robert Lewis from Britannica states. It wasn't until he was made commander of the Plaszow camp that he would meet his later adversary, Oskar Schindler.
Göth rose steadily through the SS ranks, earning a promotion to untersturmführer (equivalent to second lieutenant) in 1941 and joining Operation Reinhard, the Nazi campaign to kill the Jews of occupied Poland, in 1942. He was made commandant of Plaszow in February 1943 but remained active elsewhere, supervising the violent closings of the Kraków ghetto (March 1943), the Tarnów ghetto, and the Szebnie concentration camp (both in September 1943). His performance so pleased his superiors that he was promoted two ranks to hauptsturmführer (equivalent to army captain) in summer 1943. (Lewis)
Amon Goeth’s Cruelty At Płaszów
The roots of Goeth's cruelty perhaps really started when he was ordered to close some near by ghettos. Shockingly enough,
During the violent closings of these ghettos, the Nazis rounded up Jewish citizens and either killed them immediately or shipped them off to concentration camps, including Płaszów, if Goeth deemed them fit to work. According to Traces of War, Goeth personally murdered some of the Jewish victims himself, including up to 90 women and children in Tarnów alone. (Harvey)
Goeth had a balcony overlooking the camp he was commander of. In the film you can see here where he would, in his spare time while lounging like above, would search for any weak victims in the camp and shoot them. While he was in the ghettos getting 'rid' of Jews and doing whatever was necessary as he pleased, he was known to steal many things like jewelry. While selling many for profit on the black market, he also kept some which in the end would come to bite him in the butt. This was property of the Third Reich, not him as he had thought.
It would be agreeable that Goeth enjoyed his position and job as commander and other such things. He got as much as he wanted out of it. It's said by Harvey that he carried out almost daily executions. As Harvey also states,
Camp survivors later reported that he killed prisoners for looking him in the eye, walking too slowly, and serving him soup that was too hot. Most of these victims were shot dead, as Goeth often used his rifle to kill people from the balcony of his villa at the camp.
It perhaps may be interesting to the readers of my blog that I have found with research of the above picture that "The remains of the constructed replica building can be still found on a hill above the quarry to represent the historical perspective of the commandant, who used to shoot prisoners of the camp out of his balcony as it was depicted in a movie," (Chornyi) states Maxim Chornyi in his blog on War Documentary Info.
Now when Goeth executed many victims, he also set many upon a more cruel death. That using both of his dogs. The dogs were trained, "to torture prisoners on command. And when Goeth began to suspect that the dogs were enjoying the company of their Jewish handler, Goeth reportedly had that handler killed as well."
"There was no way for the prisoners to know when — or why — Goeth would carry out an execution. Camp survivors later reported that he killed prisoners for looking him in the eye, walking too slowly, and serving him soup that was too hot. Most of these victims were shot dead, as Goeth often used his rifle to kill people from the balcony of his villa at the camp." as Harvey explains. It was truly sickening but also spoke much on his character.
Relating to an enemy that the Nazi Party would later have, was that of Oskar Schindler. A gracious man to Jews.
Oskar Schindler’s enamelware factory, staffed with Jewish slave labour, was moved adjacent to the Plaszow camp after the closing of the Kraków ghetto. Schindler adroitly cultivated Göth, carousing with him and his staff at parties and handing over large bribes to secure better treatment for the enamelware workers. Eventually Göth allowed Schindler’s workers to move to a barracks outside the camp, where their chance for survival improved greatly. (Britannica)
I think was notable about Goeth is that even the SS had issues with him. In 1944 he was arrested from withholding loot until October. Later in 1945 he would be caught by US troops and it would be over for him. "The Americans turned him over to the restored Polish government, which then tried him for war crimes, most notably the killing of more than 10,000 people in the Plaszow and Szebnie camps and in the Kraków and Tarnów ghettos. Göth’s defense was that he was only following orders. After the brief trial, he was convicted on September 5, 1946, and hanged eight days later," expresses again Britannica.
To not only be tried but also be hung must have had a victorious feeling for the Jews. Many like Goering sadly didn't make it to this. Many even fled to Argentina and around the world escaping trial. It's very upsetting because the least that the victims would want would be justice. Though even that in itself would stand nothing to the more than 6 million lives lost due to the Party's racist ideology.
Perhaps in the end, what's most notable about this evil being was of the following as Britannica states:
"Göth’s crimes were not well known outside the field of Holocaust studies until the publication of Thomas Keneally’s novel Schindler’s Ark (1982) and the release of Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation, Schindler’s List (1993); Ralph Fiennes received an Academy Award nomination for his chilling performance as Göth."
That concludes this blog. I want to thank you so much for reading it. Please like!
Citations
Harvey, Austin. "Inside The Unhinged Brutality Of Amon Goeth Only Hinted At In Schindler’s List." All That's Interesting. March 2023.
Lewis, Robert. “Amon Göth.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Accessed April 2, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amon-Goth.
Chornyi, Maxim. “Where Was Schindler's List Filmed: Locations in Krakow.” Maksym Chorny's personal blog on WWII. WAR-DOCUMENTARY.INFO, January 24, 2023. https://war-documentary.info/where-was-schindlers-list-filmed/.
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