1912 (or 1914), Warsaw — 8 V 1943, Warsaw Ghetto
Władysław Szlengel was a poet, journalist, satirist, and stage actor. He was the author of many songs sung throughout Warsaw. He was the chronicler of the Warsaw Ghetto, often referred to as the “chronicler of the drowning”, and the author of the insurgents’ anthem.
Born in 1914 in Warsaw, his artistic work was largely connected to the city. From the beginning of the 1930s until the outbreak of the war, he collaborated with Nasz Przegląd (‘Our Review’), a journal of the Jewish minority in Warsaw. He also published articles in the satirical weekly magazine Szpilki (‘Pins/High heels’) and wrote on social and political issues for Robotnik (‘Worker’). He only wrote in Polish and was particularly fond of creating material for cabarets. He was providing lyrics and collaborating with such theatres as 13 Rzędów, Ali Baba, and Tip-Top.
When the war broke out, Władysław and his wife moved to Białystok, where he worked for the Miniature Theatre. At the beginning of 1940, he returned to Warsaw and was moved to the ghetto. He earned a living working at the art cafe Sztuka (Art), alongside the cabaret actress Wiera Gran and the pianist Władysław Szpilman. He collaborated with the Oneg Shabbat group, an underground organization documenting life in the Warsaw ghetto. His poems describe the destruction of the Jewish people.
In 1942, he managed to avoid deportation. He was relegated to work at a brushmakers’ workshop belonging to a German company. The workshop was also used by workers to produce explosives for the resistance fighters and provided support for the activity of the Ringelblum Archive, i.e., the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, established in 1940 at the initiative of Emanuel Ringelblum. Władysław Szlengel’s attempts to seek refuge on the „Aryan“ side of the city proved unsuccessful. He died during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943.
