Władysław Szlengel (1912 – 8 May 1943) was a Polish poet, lyricist, journalist, and stage actor of
Jewish decent.
Life
Władysław Szlengel was the son of a
Warsaw painter who made film posters. In 1930, Władysław Szlengel graduated from the Merchants' Assembly Trade School of the City of Warsaw.
During his school years, he first discovered his talent for rhyming. He published his texts in the student newspaper,
but soon established relations with a number of dailies and weeklies.
Szlengel wrote only in Polish. By 1939, he was one of the most recognizable lyricists in Poland, and the author of several popular songs. He had also published satirical articles in the weekly ''Szpilki'', and political articles in ''Robotnik'' and in the
Lwów
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
newspaper ''Sygnały''.
He took part in the 1939
defence of Warsaw. Later, he moved with his wife to
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...
, at the time occupied by the Soviets. There, he worked as director of the local Miniature Theatre. In 1940, he returned to Warsaw. On 16 November 1940, Waliców Street, where he lived, was made part of the
Warsaw Ghetto.
He became an organizer of cultural life in the district of the Ghetto. In his poetry, Szlengel described the everyday experiences and suffering of the Jews, but didn't shy away from irony. Many of his poems document the
Holocaust, including "
Umschlagplatz
''Umschlagplatz'' (german: collection point or reloading point) was the term used during The Holocaust to denote the holding areas adjacent to railway stations in occupied Poland where Jews from ghettos were assembled for deportation to Nazi dea ...
" procedures, transports to
Treblinka extermination camp, and circumstances of
Janusz Korczak
Janusz Korczak, the pen name of Henryk Goldszmit (22 July 1878 or 1879 – 7 August 1942), was a Polish Jewish educator, children's author and pedagogue known as ''Pan Doktor'' ("Mr. Doctor") or ''Stary Doktor'' ("Old Doctor"). After spending ma ...
's death. During his confinement to the Ghetto, he sought in vain to find refuge on the "Aryan" side,
and collaborated with
Oyneg Shabbos.
He and his wife died during the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, murdered by the Germans after being discovered in the bunker at Świętojerska Street 36, where they had a hiding place.
See also
*
List of Poles
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szlengel, Wladyslaw
Polish male poets
Polish lyricists
Warsaw Ghetto inmates
People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto
1912 births
1943 deaths