Schindlers Liste

Rena Ferber

Rena Ferber - today Rena Finder - was only 10 years old when the Nazis invaded Poland. Her father was killed at Auschwitz and she and her mother were sent to KZ Plaszow. 

They began working at Emalia, Schindler's enamel and ammunition factory. The conditions in Schindler's factory were more humane than Rena and her mother would have encountered in any other circumstance during the war. She later recalled that Schindler "treated us with kindness and respect ... Schindler bribed Goeth and others to get food and better treatment for the Jews during a time when all Germans were killing the Jews."

She later told how a Nazi guard was about to shoot her for mistakenly breaking a factory machine - and Oskar Schindler intervened: "He said: You idiots, this little girl could not break that machine .."

"He was wonderful," Rena said of Schindler: "He was tall and he was handsome and he had a twinkle in his eye. He was our hero and our God. How can you say thank you for someone who saved your life? .. I wish he were here today so I could hug him and kiss him."

She said: "I would not be alive today if it wasn't for Oskar Schindler, my Mother survived and so did my grandfather. It's a tragedy that Oskar Schindler died young before the world could acknowledge his heroism. His country men considered him a traitor, to us he was our God, our Father, our protector."