Fact Vs Fiction: Schindler's List

In the movie, while Schindler witnesses the atrocities carried out against the Jews as part of the liquidation of the ghetto, he becomes fixated on the journey of the solitary little girl wearing a red coat. The film is shot almost entirely monochrome, so the addition of colour on this child’s garment makes it a poignant scene. Representing the innocence of the persecuted Jews as they were berated and slaughtered, the girl in the red coat acts as the ultimate symbol to motivate Schindler to become a hero.

While this is an iconic scene in movie history, it can be interpreted as an artistic choice by producer, Steven Spielberg. However, in reality, the girl in the red coat did exist. As a little girl, Roma Ligocka was well known throughout the Jewish community for her bright red coat before Nazi occupation. Only a one-year-old when Polish Jews were sent to live in the ghettos, Roma was one of the youngest people persecuted under the Nazi regime. Roma’s father was sent to Auschwitz during the early occupation, and she didn’t see him for several years.

The movie deviates from fact, however, as Schindler notices the girl in the red coat in a cart full of dead people when talking to the brutal Amon Göth. This scene acts as a further incentive for Liam Neeson’s character in his plight to save more people.