Schindler's List Survivor to Speak at Grinnell College

One of the last living survivors from Schindler's List, Karp Biniaz will be in Grinnell on Tuesday, Sept. 12 to give a presentation titled “Second Chance” at 4:15 p.m. in the Harris Center Cinema.

This event is free and open to the public.

At 13 years old, 5 years after living in a ghetto and forced labor camp in Poland, Celina and her parents Irvin and Phyllis Karp's names were added to Oskar Schindler's list of Jewish laborers needed for his new factory. On the way to the factory, the train was diverted and Celina found herself imprisoned in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Somehow, she was able to convince Dr. Josef Mengele, the “Angel of Death,” to let her live.

It took Schindler nearly 6 weeks to convince the Germans to release the 300 women back into his custody. Celina's family was reunited and worked in Schindler's factory until they were liberated in May 1945.

Oskar Schindler was an unlikely hero to more than 1,200 Jews whose lives were saved through his efforts. A Czech-German industrialist who started his business ventures as a black marketer, he became wealthy through his association with the Nazi Party and his connections to its leaders. With the invasion of Poland, Schindler later acquired a factory producing enamelware and munitions for the German military front, one that was operated by Jewish labor. This story was later the basis for a best-selling novel, Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (1982), and the Academy Award-winning film Schindler's List (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg.

Two years after the liberation, Celina and her parents immigrated to Des Moines where Celina graduated from North High School. She attended Grinnell College, majoring in philosophy, and then Columbia University in New York, where she earned a master's degree in education.

Sponsored by Grinnell College's Community Enhancement and Engagement and the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice.