Schindler's Ark - Background

Background

Keneally was inspired to write the book by Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. After the war, Pfefferberg had tried on a number of occasions to interest the screen-writers and film-makers he met through his business in a film based on the story of Schindler and his actions in saving Polish Jews from the Nazis, arranging several interviews with Schindler for American television.

Keneally's meetings with Pfefferberg, research and interviews of Schindler's acquittance are detailed in another of his books titled Searching for Schindler: A Memoir (2007). In October 1980 Keneally went into Pfefferberg's shop in Beverly Hills to ask about the price of briefcases. Keneally had just finished a book-signing in Beverly Hills and was on his way home to Australia. Pfefferberg, learning that Keneally was a novelist, showed him his extensive files on Schindler, kept in two cabinets in his back room. After 50 minutes of entreaties, Pfefferberg was finally able to convince Keneally to write the book; and Pfefferberg became an advisor, accompanying Keneally to Poland where they visited Kraków and other sites associated with the Schindler story. Keneally dedicated Schindler's Ark to Pfefferberg: "who by zeal and persistence caused this book to be written."

After the publication of Schindler's Ark in 1982, Pfefferberg worked to persuade Steven Spielberg to film Keneally's book, using his acquaintance with Spielberg's mother to gain access. The awarding of the Booker Prize caused some controversy at the time: as this award is for the best fiction, it was debatable whether Keneally wrote fiction or was reporting history.

A carbon copy of the original 13-page list, of which only a few exist, was discovered in 2009 in a library in Sydney, Australia.