Oskar Schindler's Enamel Factory (polski. Fabryka Emalia Oskara Schindlera), a former metal item factory in Kraków, is now host to two museums: the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków and a branch of the Historical Museum of the City of Kraków. It is situated in the district of Zablocie, in the administrative building of the former enamel factory known as Oskar Schindler's Deutsche Emailwarenfabrik (DEF). Operating here before DEF was the first Malopolska factory of enamelware and metal products limited liability company, instituted in March 1937.
The company was established by three Jewish entrepreneurs: Michal Gutman from Bedzin, Izrael Kahn from Krakow, and Wolf Luzer Glajtman from Olkusz. The partners leased the production halls from the factory of wire, mesh, and iron products with its characteristic sawtooth roofs, and purchased a plot at ul. Lipowa 4 for their future base. It was then that the following were built: the stamping room where metal sheets were processed, prepared and pressed, the deacidification facility (varnishing) where the vessels were bathed in a solution of sulfuric acid to remove all impurities and grease, and the enamel shop, where enamel was laid in a number of layers: the priming coat first, then the colour, and finally another protective coat.
The ownership of the company changed a number of times, and its financial situation continued to worsen. In June 1939, the company applied for insolvency, which was officially announced by the Regional Court in Krakow.
On 1st September 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War broke out. On 6th September, German troops entered Krakow. It was probably also at that time that Oskar Schindler, a Sudeten German member of the NDSAP and agent of the Abwehr, arrived in Krakow. Using the power of the German occupation forces in the capacity of a trustee, he took over the German kitchenware shop on ul. Krakowska, and in November 1939, on the power of the decision of the Trusteeship Authority he took over the receivership of "Rekord" company in Zablocie.
