Helen Hirsch survives the Holocaust due to Oskar Schindler’s intervention and is liberated at the end of the war.
In the film “Schindler’s List,” Helen Hirsch is portrayed as a Jewish maid who works for Amon Göth, the commandant of the Płaszów concentration camp. Her character is based on a real person, Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig. Throughout the film, Helen endures severe abuse and lives in constant fear of Göth, who is known for his unpredictable and sadistic behavior.
Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and member of the Nazi Party, initially seeks to profit from the war by employing Jewish labor in his enamelware factory. However, as the war progresses, Schindler’s motivations shift from self-interest to a humanitarian effort to save his Jewish workers from the Holocaust. He compiles a list of over a thousand Jews, including Helen Hirsch, to work at his new munitions factory in Brünnlitz, away from the reach of the SS.
By including Helen and others on his list, Schindler ensures their safety from being sent to the death camps. The film depicts the emotional moment when the Schindlerjuden (Schindler’s Jews) are liberated by Soviet troops. The real Helen Hirsch, like the character in the film, survived the war and eventually emigrated to the United States, where she lived until her passing in 2018. The story of Helen Hirsch and the other survivors serves as a powerful testament to the impact of individual actions in the face of mass atrocities.
