Poldek Pfefferberg

Leopold "Poldek" Pfefferberg (March 20, 1913 – March 9, 2001), also known as Leopold Page,[1] was a Polish-American Holocaust survivor who inspired the Australian writer Thomas Keneally to write the Booker Prize-winning novel Schindler's Ark, which in turn was the basis for Steven Spielberg's critically acclaimed 1993 film Schindler's List.

He later explained to the Australian novelist Thomas Keneally how he was wounded on the San River where his life was saved by his sergeant major, who carried him to a field hospital.

This enabled him to survive the extermination of 3 million Polish Jews, during which his parents, sister, brother-in-law and many other relatives were murdered.

Pfefferberg described Schindler as "a modern Noah," who was able to save a number of Kraków Jews from deportation to the nearby extermination camp at Auschwitz.

He and his wife settled in Los Angeles in 1950,[7] eventually opening a leather goods business in Beverly Hills.

Keneally dedicated Schindler's Ark to Pfefferberg: "who by zeal and persistence caused this book to be written."

Pfefferberg and his wife were Spielberg's guests on the night Schindler's List won seven Academy Awards.

In his acceptance speech for best director that night, Spielberg thanked "a survivor named Poldek Pfefferberg ...

Pfefferberg was a founder of the Oskar Schindler Humanities Foundation,[8][1] which recognises acts by individuals and organizations, regardless of race or nationality.