NEW YORK (AFP).- Blueprints for an expansion of Holocaust hero Oskar Schindler's Poland factory during World War II have been sold at auction online for $63,426, a New Hampshire auction house said Thursday.

Dating back to 1943, and bearing the logo of German engineering firm Siemens, the construction plans refer to living quarters where Schindler housed his Jewish workers safe from the brutality of the nearby Plaszow camp.

"As the plans were used to build a portion of Schindler's safe haven from Nazi atrocities, this collection holds a truly remarkable place in history," said RR Auction vice president Bobby Livingston in an email to AFP.

The same buyer, who asked to remain anonymous, also paid $59,135 for a August 1944 letter of introduction, signed in blue pencil by Schindler, for a Polish employee arranging for the transfer of the Krakow factory to Brunnlitz, known today as Brnenec in the Czech Republic.

Holocaust historian David Crowe said the letter is valuable evidence that Schindler got top-level permission from Nazi German officials to relocate his operations -- and, in turn, his Jewish workers -- sooner than previously thought.

Schindler is credited with saving the lives of some 1,200 Jews employed in his factories during World War II. He died in anonymity in Germany in 1974 at the age of 66.

The industrialist's story was the focal point of director Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film "Schindler's List" in 1993.

Last month, auctioneers in California put a 14-page typewritten list bearing the names of 801 of Schindler's employees -- thought to be the only one in private hands -- on sale on eBay with an opening price of $3 million. It attracted much attention, but no bidders.



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