Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory at Lipowa 4
Why is it significant?
Stand before the white administrative facade and iron entrance gate of Lipowa 4, the most famous address in Krakow's modern history. This is the former Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik, known simply as Emalia, an enamelware plant operated by German industrialist Oskar Schindler from 1939 to 1944.
Key Facts
| Place | Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory at Lipowa 4 |
|---|---|
| Address | ul. Lipowa 4, 30-702 Kraków, Poland |
| Geo Coordinates | 50.04750, 19.96170 |
| Part of Walk | Podgórze, The Ghetto, and Schindler's Factory: Memory and Courage |
| Generated | Generated |
Stand before the white administrative facade and iron entrance gate of Lipowa 4, the most famous address in Krakow's modern history. This is the former Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik, known simply as Emalia, an enamelware plant operated by German industrialist Oskar Schindler from 1939 to 1944. Through these gates walked more than twelve hundred Jewish workers who came to be known across the world as Schindlerjuden. Behind this modest industrial exterior occurred one of the most astonishing rescues in the history of human warfare.
Oskar Schindler arrived in Krakow in 1939 as an opportunistic Sudeten businessman seeking military contracts. Yet witnessing the brutal atrocities of the ghetto clearance on Plac Zgody spurred a profound moral awakening. Using his charm, intelligence, and fortunes in diamonds and cash bribes, he deceived the SS into declaring his workers essential to the war effort. At Emalia, Schindler established a protected sub-camp where no worker was beaten, rations were increased, and families were sheltered safely.
In the summer of 1944, as the front approached and the SS ordered camps liquidated, Schindler accomplished the impossible. With his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern, he typed the famous Schindler's List containing over eleven hundred names of men, women, and children. He relocated his entire factory to Brünnlitz in Czechia, funding food and shelter until Soviet liberation in May 1945. Schindler spent his entire fortune saving his workers, earning the title Righteous Among the Nations from Yad Vashem in 1993.
Today, the administrative building houses the Museum of Krakow's acclaimed exhibition Krakow Under Nazi Occupation 1939–1945. Visitors walk through authentic recreations of pre-war cobblestone streets, cramped ghetto rooms, and Schindler's preserved office with its iconic glass globe. Next door in the former factory halls stands MOCAK, the Museum of Contemporary Art, completing the quarter's artistic rebirth.
Here we conclude our walking journey through Podgórze, the ghetto, and the paths of human courage. You have travelled from the riverside of Cricoteka and the heights of Krakus Mound, past the ghetto wall and deportation square, to this sanctuary of hope. Podgórze teaches us that even in humanity's darkest midnight, individual courage can defy totalitarian darkness. Thank you for sharing this deeply moving pilgrimage of memory.