Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp
Prior to World War II, Bankier was one of the owners of the Ltd. factory on Lipowa street in Kraków, Poland, that Oskar Schindler took over during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Schindler then employed Bankier to manage the factory, which was renamed (German Enamelware Factory Oskar Schindler), called "Emalia" for short. Bankier was able to leverage black market dealings with extra scrap metal to bring additional Jews to work at the factory, thereby giving them temporary reprieve from deportations and from the dangers of Kraków Ghetto (and after the closure of the ghetto, the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp), thus ultimately saving many lives.