14. Schindler fled for his life from the Soviet Army
As Nazi Germany collapsed, Schindler made preparations to protect himself from being classified as a war criminal. He solicited letters from Goldberg, Stern, Bankier, and others describing his activities protecting his workers. Throughout the war, Schindler had retained his car, and in it he and his wife departed Brunnlitz for the west, followed by one of his trucks, which carried several of his workers and one of his mistresses. In the Czech town of Budweis, he was temporarily detained by Soviet troops, who seized the car, but allowed them to pass, in response to a bribe. The Schindlers finally reached the American lines, where Schindler’s documents were examined by American officers, who arranged passage for him to Switzerland. They remained there until the fall of 1945, when they relocated to American occupied Bavaria.
Schindler was not charged with war crimes for employing slave labor, as were other German industrialists, but in post-war Germany, he was virtually destitute. Schindler had lived in luxury during his tenure in Poland and Czechoslovakia (the car he used to flee the Soviets was a Horch, a prestigious vehicle in pre-war Germany) but he claimed that he had spent his entire fortune through bribery and his other activities protecting his workers. His entire fortune had come from the sale of products to the government of Germany and its allies during the war, used by the German military. In Bavaria Schindler began accounting for his expenses, which included bribery of officials, food for his workers, construction of the sub-camp in Plaszow, travel, and so forth. The sums provided by his primary customer, the Nazi government were not included.