In 1993 at the age of 3, Oliwia Dabrowska played the little girl in the red coat in Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List.” Her scenes are some of the most iconic in the film.
“Schindler’s List” is about industrialist Oskar Schindler, a real life person who helped thousands of Jews escape death during the Holocaust. Dabrowska portrays a little girl in a red coat walking through the Krakow Ghetto. Her jacket is the only piece of color in the black-and-white film, so she is impossible to miss.
On March 9th, Dabrowska posted a re-colored still from that scene to Instagram. Her bright red coat has been changed to blue and yellow to represent the Ukraine flag with the text: “She was always the symbol of hope. Let her be it again ????❤️.”
Shortly after the post, Dabrowska went to the Polish-Ukrainian border to help refugees cross. She started posting to social media to raise awareness of what it is currently for refuges. Saying things like “’fun’ fact: Korczowa is the nearest border crossing to the Jaworów(Yavoriv). And today Russia bombed Yavoriv. Only 20 kilometers from Poland. So close! I’m scared, but that only motivates me more to help refugees.”
The same post goes on to say “I can’t tell you everything I saw there, because I don’t have rigth words in my mind… Nobody, who have never seen this, can’t imagine this nightmare in eyes of those people.”
Dabrowska also posted about a foreign currency account is set and ready to receive donations for the Ukrainian refugees, titled #HopeForUkraine. “Because the thing we need the most at the moment is hope,” she said. We have to agree.