Fact Vs Fiction: Schindler's List
2. FACT: Göth Was A Complete Bastard
In his portrayal of the brutal SS Commandant, Amon Göth, Ralph Fiennes was superb. The display of the drunken, devious leader of the ‘Death’s Head’ Unit at Plaszow earned the actor an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and remains one of the most barbaric onscreen antagonists.
While commandeering the concentration camp, Göth delights in random sniper rifle fire, indiscriminately killing slave labourers around the area. He also lusts over his maid, Helen Hirsch. In a scene where his attraction reaches its precipice, Göth begins physically abusing Hirsch, accusing her of tempting him.
While some of these atrocities are exaggerated for the film, the real-life SS Commander was equal in his murderous abuse of power. On one of his birthday’s, Göth forced the Jewish concert pianist, Natalia Karp to play the piano for him. Had she refused or not performed to Amon’s satisfaction, he would have killed her and her sister.
Furthermore, Göth ordered that all children were to be sent to Auschwitz for annihilation to make way for the arrival of 10,000 Hungarian Jews. Göth fundamentally believed in the Final Solution and played his part in the extinction of over 6,000,000 Jewish people.
Fact and fiction deviate somewhat, as in Schindler’s List, it is implied Göth remained in control of the Plaszow concentration camp throughout its duration. However, after being charged with the theft of Jewish property, as in he didn’t send it to the Reich, Göth was relieved of his duties in 1944 and was executed for war crimes in 1946.