Schindler factory to be named Czech cultural heritage site

PRAGUE (JTA) — The factory in which Oskar Schindler saved more than 1,000 Jews from concentration camps will be declared a cultural heritage site even as it faces possible demolition.

The eastern Bohemian factory in the town of Brnenec is set to be declared a cultural heritage site even as questions arise over whether any of the original buildings can be saved, the Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported. Some of the factory, which is abandoned, already is scheduled to be demolished, while other buildings are potentially too damaged to be saved, according to reports.

The ownership of the factory also is unclear, and none of the registered owners can be located, Mlada fronta Dnes reported.

A local representative of the Heritage Institute told the newspaper that obtaining cultural heritage status will depend on having something left to preserve of the original site. Prior to World War II, the factory was owned by the Jewish Loew-Beer family.

Brnenec Mayor Blahoslav Kaspar told Mlada fronta Dnes that he would at least like to open a museum on the site noting Schindler and the factory’s role in saving Jews.

Another former Schindler factory in Krakow has been turned into a museum and attracts tourists, particularly after the exposure that Schindler’s rescue efforts received from Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award-winning film “Schindler’s List.”