On this day in 1993, Schindler’s List was released, and Steven Spielberg made a decision that would forever change the world of cinema. Inspired by the haunting Holocaust documentary Shoah, he chose not to storyboard, avoided the typical Hollywood polish, and filmed the movie with handheld cameras in stark black and white. Spielberg wanted the film to feel raw and unfiltered he wanted it to feel like history itself.
Then came the red coat.
During the chaos of the Kraków ghetto’s liquidation, a young girl in a red coat wanders through the turmoil. Later, Schindler sees her lifeless body, the coat being the only clue to her identity. That moment, brief yet powerful, marks a shift in Schindler’s character and for audiences, it became one of the most haunting and symbolic images in cinema.
Spielberg explained that the red coat represented how the Holocaust was visible to the world, “as obvious as a girl in a red coat,” yet still largely ignored. Others see it as a symbol of innocence, hope, or the blood of the Jewish people.
The role of the little girl was played by three-year-old Oliwia Dąbrowska, who, many years later, came to embrace her part in preserving the memory of the Holocaust. Her story also echoes that of Roma Ligocka, a real girl in a red coat who survived the Holocaust and later published her memoir.
In just two colors black and white, with one piercing red Spielberg didn’t just create a film. He created a reminder. A reminder of the atrocities of the past, and of what humanity must never forget.✍️🖤
