The 2002 film The Pianist, directed by master director Roman Polanski, was awarded numerous awards in the year it was released and received full marks from both the audience and the critics. The film, which tells the massacre of the German Nazis in all corners of Europe, especially Poland, during the Second World War, actually tells the life story of a real musician named Wladyslaw Szpilman.
Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew, was one of his country’s most important pianists. His life, like many others, was turned upside down with the German invasion of Poland, and he witnessed tragedies unimaginable until the war was over. Let’s take a closer look at Wladyslaw Szpilman, who we saw in the movie The Pianist, and what he went through.
Who is Wladyslaw Szpilman?
Wladyslaw Szpilman, who was born in Poland in 1911, was the son of a Jewish family. Szpilman, who was seen to be successful in piano at a young age, went to Warsaw to study music. Then he moved to Germany and studied piano and composition at Belin Art Academy and developed his talent with knowledge.
Wladyslaw Szpilman, who had the opportunity to work and meet important names such as Franz Schreker, returned to his home country, Poland, after the Nazis came to power in 1933. Szpilman started working for Polish Radio and soon became one of the country’s most important pianists and music people.
The Nazis invade Poland:
The last notes from the radio as the Nazis invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 and the Polish Radio building came under fire It came out of Wladyslaw Szpilman’s fingers. After the occupation, Szpilman and his family, along with most of the Jews in the country, were deported to the area reserved for the Jews by the Nazis, known as the Warsaw ghetto.
Wladyslaw Szpilman unintentionally began working as a pianist at the favorite venues of wealthy Jews, who were the Nazis and their collaborators, in order to at least buy the food his family needed. Szpilman, who had to make music for the Nazis and their supporters who occupied his country at Café Nowaczesna and similar venues, would later get help from the people he met during this period.
Although the Nazi invasion of Poland was completed in one day, all its effects were not felt at once. Jews living in the country were first excluded and then sent to the Warsaw ghetto. What happened in the ghetto was even more painful than what was described in the movie The Pianist. Of course, the Nazis’ plans were far more gruesome and were soon put into practice.
Jewish massacre begins in Poland:
The aim of the Nazis was not to invade a country and set its citizens aside, they wanted to kill them all; so it happened. By the summer of 1942, along with all the Jews living in the Warsaw ghetto, Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family were displaced to move to Treblinka. Treblinka meant death.
While Wladyslaw Szpilman and his family were to be put on the train with other Jews, a secret hand, whose name is unknown even today, separated Wladyslaw Szpilman from his family and saved his life. Unfortunately, only Szpilman survived. His family was put on the train before his eyes and he embarked on that journey that would end in death.
The Warsaw ghetto was one of the places that experienced the most intense effects of the Second World War. Jews living in the region were beaten, raped and killed in the ghetto before they were taken to death camps by being put on trains. All the buildings in the Warsaw ghetto, which was under heavy bombardment, were either destroyed or badly damaged. It was in this ghetto that Wladyslaw Szpilman would try to survive for years.
A solo pianist in the destroyed streets of the Warsaw ghetto:
Almost all Jews living in the Warsaw ghetto and in Poland who did not cooperate with the Nazis were put on trains to death camps. had been sent. Only Wladyslaw Szpilman remained in the ghetto. Szpilman, who struggled to live in the ruined streets of the Warsaw ghetto until the winter of 1945, hiding from the Nazis, managed to survive somehow with the help of many people he knew at Café Nowaczesna and similar venues.
When we came to the winter of 1945, there was an event in The Pianist that brought us all to tears. Sitting in front of an out of tune piano inside a destroyed villa of the Warsaw ghetto, Wladyslaw Szpilman encountered one of the German Nazi officers who had invaded his country. When the officer asked him about his profession, he said he was a pianist, and then the officer asked him to play a song.
Wladyslaw Szpilman, who had seen the worst days of the war, lost so much weight and nearly lost his sanity, sat at the piano and came under fire on the day of his country’s occupation, Chopin’s Nocturne, the last song that came out of his fingers on Polish Radio. stole it. The Nazi officer gave him enough food and clothing to survive for a while. Just as he was about to leave, Wladyslaw Szpilman took his hand and said exactly these words:
“I never told you my name; You didn’t ask me, but I want you to remember. Who knows what might happen? You have a long way to go to get home. If I survive, I will definitely work for Polish Radio again. If anything should happen to you, if I can help you in any way, remember my name, Szpilman, Polish Radio.”
The bad guys didn’t win forever. The war finally ended and the Nazis, who were the architects of this massacre, were taken to camps as prisoners of war. The Nazi officer who saved Wladyslaw Szpilman’s life was also in one of these prison camps and died there. Just like in the movie, he tried to reach Szpilman but was unsuccessful.
Wladyslaw Szpilman after the war:
Finally, when the war ended and Poland started to return to its old days, Wladyslaw Szpilman started working for Polish Radio again. He composed many new compositions and gave countless concerts. After his concert tour in 1986, he decided to devote himself entirely to composing.
Wladyslaw Szpilman was one of his country’s best-known musicians when he died in Warsaw in 2000. After his autobiography was translated into German and English and adapted into the movie The Pianist, the name of Wladyslaw Szpilman was heard all over the world. The sad thing is that the name of this master musician was not known even in Europe until the movie.
The Pianist movie about Szpilman’s experiences and its trailer:
- Production year: 2002
- Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
- Director: Roman Polanski
- Stars: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay
- IMDb: 8.5
- Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
The film tells the real life story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jewish musician, who lived during the Second World War; He was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize, and the BAFTA Award for Best Film and Best Director.
We answered the question of who is Wladyslaw Szpilman, whose real story we watched in Roman Polanski’s movie The Pianist, and briefly talked about the life of this master musician. Hoping that these events, which left countless black marks on history, will never happen again.
1896
