Poldek Pfefferberg

Leopold " Poldek " mountain pepper ( born March 20, 1913 in Krakow, † March 9, 2001 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles ), also known as Leopold Page, was a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor, to the so-called " Schindler Jews " were counted. He worked for both the book Schindler's Ark and for the 1993 Hollywood film produced Schindler's List as a consultant and initiator. In the film, his person was represented by Jonathan Sagall.

Life

Born into a Jewish family in Krakow (then Austria - Hungary, now Poland), Leopold Pfeffersberg visited by his education, the Jagiellonian University and received his degree in physics and philosophy. He then became a teacher at a high school in Cracow. This profession he practiced until the beginning of World War II. In 1939 he joined the Polish army to fight against the Wehrmacht in the Polish campaign. Pfeffersberg was wounded in the San river and taken to a hospital.

As a prisoner in the Plaszow concentration camp, he used forged documents to pose as German and thus to be able to visit wounded comrades and his mother in hospital. There he made the acquaintance of Oskar Schindler, who had just taken over a rundown enamelware factory of Jews. Schindler commissioned Pfefferberg mother, who was an interior designer, with the renovation of his apartment.

After the liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto in March 1943 Pfeffersberg came to the labor camp Plaszow, which was under the direction of Amon Goeth. By connecting with Schindler he came along with his wife Ludmila Pfeffersberg, with whom he had two children, on the list. As a so-called " Schindler Jew " survived Pfeffersberg one of the few of the three million Polish Jews. Pfeffersberg described Schindler as "a modern Noah ".

After 1945

After the end of World War II Pfeffersberg moved to Budapest, then to Munich, where he founded a school for refugee children. In 1948 he emigrated to the USA where he used the name " Leopold Page ." Together with his wife Ludmila he lived in Los Angeles, where she led a leather goods shop in Beverly Hills.

In 1980 he learned in his business writer Thomas Keneally know, and showed him documents about Oskar Schindler. Keneally showed interest and pepper mountain became a consultant of the book Schindler's Ark.Pfefferberg explained the reasons for his efforts the Schindler story: " Schindler saved my life, and I 'm trying to give him immortality ."

Following the publication in 1982 of " Schindler 's Ark " Pfeffersberg Steven Spielberg tried to persuade her to film Keneally book. According to the company Pfeffersberg called a week in Spielberg's office until it finally after eleven years gave his promise. Pfeffersberg worked for in 1993 produced the Hollywood film Schindler's List as a consultant and traveled with Spielberg to Krakow to visit with him the scenes. Pepper mountain is reflected in the documentation voices of people on the list to speak, which is included on the DVD Schindler's List.

Pfeffersberg was the founder of the " Oskar Schindler Humanities Foundation". He justified this by saying: "Only if that organization is a reality, I will have fulfilled my obligations. For when I am no longer alive and the Schindler - Jews are also deceased, this organization and its purpose will still exist. "

Leopold Pfeffersberg died on 9 March 2001 at the age of 87 years at his home in Beverly Hills.