Roma Ligocka (born Roma Liebling, 13 November 1938 in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland) is a Polish writer, and painter. She was born in a Jewish family in

a year before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During the German occupation of Poland, her family was persecuted by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s - her father was incarcerated, first in the

Płaszów Płaszów is a suburb of Kraków, Poland, now part of Podgórze district. Formerly a separate village, it became a part of the Greater Kraków in 1911 under the Austrian Partition of Poland as the 21st cadastral district of the city. During World ...

and then Auschwitz concentration camps. In 1940, she was taken with her mother to the

Kraków Ghetto The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created by Germany in the new General Government territory during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the purpose of exploitation, terror, and ...

but, before the end of the ghetto in 1943, they fled and hid with a Polish family. After World War II, she studied painting and scenic design in the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. Then, she worked with considerable success in theatre, film, and television as a set designer. In 1965, she and her husband, Jan Biczycki, left the Communist Poland and moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany, where she continued with her set design assignments. Roma Ligocka is Roman Polanski's cousin.http://www.randomhouse.com/book/101525/the-girl-in-the-red-coat-by-roma-ligocka-and-iris-von-finckenstein

Novels

She has written several novels, some of them reflecting her biography: * '' The Girl in the Red Coat'' (''Dziewczynka w czerwonym płaszczyku'') * ''Znajoma z lustra'' * ''Kobieta w podróży'' * ''Tylko ja sama'' (originally published in German) * ''Wszystko z miłości'' Her novel, ''The Girl in the Red Coat'', was inspired by Steven Spielberg's movie, ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film f ...

''. After watching the movie, she recognized herself as a Jewish child that wore a red coat.

References

External links

Roma Ligocka and her writing
- a website created by her publisher (Polish)
Bibliography of Roma Ligocka
- National Library of Poland Artists from Kraków Polish women writers 1938 births Living people Kraków Ghetto inmates Holocaust survivors {{poland-writer-stub