why is the little girl in the coat in red in this black and white film?

“He who saves one life saves all humanity.” In 1994, the French discovered Schindler's Lista film directed by Steven Spielberg. This feature film tells the story of industrialist Oskar Schindler, and the story of the hundreds of Jews saved from concentration and extermination camps. In dark rooms, spectators learn how this German industrialist managed to protect hundreds of Jews by having them work in his factory. Firstly out of pure greed, Jewish workers then representing cheap labor. Oskar Schindler also had close ties with the Nazi party. Then, convinced by his accountant Itzhak to hire more and more employees essential to the German war effort, Oskar Schindler ultimately saves hundreds and hundreds of people from the camps and death.

7 Oscars, 3 Golden Globes and 3 Baftas… This masterpiece, made “in homage to the 6 million murdered Jews”, is as important in Steven Spielberg's filmography, for its cinematographic quality, as for the duty of memory and for History. Schindler's List was also selected by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the prestigious National Film Registry, which brings together American films known for their “cultural, historical or aesthetic significance.” It is also ranked in the American Film Institute's Top 100. In France, the film attracted more than 2.6 million spectators at the time of its theatrical release. And one scene stands out in particular: that of the little girl in the red coat. The viewer may then wonder why the little girl appears in red in Schindler's Listsince the entire rest of the film is almost entirely in black and white, with the exception of a few rare scenes… We'll explain.

The little girl in the red coat really existed

First, you should know that Schindler's List is adapted from the eponymous book by Thomas Michael Keneally published in 1982 and based on the story of Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Jews saved by Oskar Schindler. The filming of the film, which took place in Poland, was extremely trying for its director, Steven Spielberg. A shoot that is all the more difficult because it involves true stories, lives cut short, entire families decimated, a crime against humanity. The little girl in the red coat that we see in Steven Spielberg's film really existed. Her name was Roma Ligocka and she was known for this particular sign in the ghetto. In real life, Roma Ligocka, cousin of Roman Polanski, survived the Holocaust. In 2002, she published her memoirs, soberly titled The Little Girl in the Red Coat. But if Steven Spielberg's film left its mark on Roma Ligocka, the presence of a little girl in a red coat in the feature film would not a priori be directly inspired by her story.

In Schindler's Listthe appearance of the little girl in the red coat represents the element that triggers Oskar Schindler's reaction to the horror of Nazism. While riding a horse with a friend, the industrialist first sees the little girl, from afar, from a view overlooking the Krakow ghetto at the time of its liquidation. The little girl seems lost, she walks alone in the middle of the streets of the ghetto. Oskar Schindler's friend urges him to leave, but he cannot look away from the tragedy unfolding beneath his feet, a few meters from him: he is the witness of an extermination. Later, Oskar Schindler sees the little corpse of the little girl, still wrapped in this red coat, pass before his eyes. The fate and death of the little girl will help him realize the magnitude of the final solution and the importance of saving his Jewish employees.

What happened to the girl's interpreter, Olivia Dabrowska, aged 3 at the time of filming?

The little girl in the red coat will mark Oskar Schindler's character as much as the spectators. Its interpreter, Olivia Dabrowska, was 3 years old at the time of filming. Now in her thirties, Olivia Dabrowska still lives in Poland and devotes her time to welcoming Ukrainian refugees. In March 2022, just after the start of the war in Ukraine, she published on her social networks a photo of her character in Steven Spielberg's film. An image accompanied by this caption: “She will always be the symbol of hope. May she become one again today.”