Spielberg was only a kid when Holocaust survivor Poldek Pfefferberg set out to bring Oskar Schindler to the big screen. He had opened a leather goods store in Beverley Hills in 1950 and used the choice location to tell the story to anyone who would listen in the movie industry. In 1951, he approached Fritz Lang to direct a film based on the subject, and the Austrian maestro of “Metropolis” and “M” would have made a capable and worthy choice; Lang himself had Jewish heritage and fled Germany in 1933 after Joseph Goebbels offered him a job. Unfortunately, his potential version didn’t work out.

Pfefferberg persevered for another 30 years until one day in 1980 someone finally picked up the story. Australian author Thomas Keneally was in town and in the market for a new briefcase. After visiting Pfefferberg’s shop, he not only came out with something to carry his papers in but also the raw material for a Booker Prize-winning novel. Pfefferberg was heavily involved, acting as Kenneally’s advisor and traveling to Poland with him to visit important sites. Kenneally later dedicated the book to him.

“Schindler’s Ark” was published in 1982. MCA President Sid Sheinberg first brought it to Spielberg’s attention, who was on a hot streak after directing back-to-back Best Picture Oscar nominees, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.” He displayed enough interest in the story for Universal to buy the rights, but there was a snag. Although Spielberg recognized how important it was to make a film about the subject, he didn’t yet feel mature enough to helm the project himself.

Meanwhile, the indefatigable Mr. Pfefferberg stayed on the case, claiming he phoned Spielberg’s office every week for 11 years about making the movie.