Maria Ajzensztadt (1922–1942; often referred to by a diminutive of her first name Marysia) was a Polish singer, who was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. She was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

to a Polish-Jewish family of Dawid Ajzensztadt, the director of the choir of the Nożyk family synagogue and the Grand Synagogue of Warsaw. After the outbreak of

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 ...

and the start of the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, she was forced into the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

together with her father. She then started a musical career as a singer in various music cafes still operating within the borders of the ghetto, notably the ''Sztuka'' cafe at that Ghetto. Her voice gained her the nickname of ''Nightingale of the Ghetto.'' She was murdered by the Germans in September 1942. Mixed reports suggest that she was either shot by an SS man as her family boarded a train carrying Jews from the

Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Masovian Voivodeship. The cam ...

, or was murdered later, having arrived at that extermination camp.

References

* Barbara Engelking-Boni,

Jacek Leociak Jacek Leociak (born 2 June 1957, in Warsaw) is a Polish literary scholar and historian as well as author. He is a professor of humanities and an employee of the Institute of Literary Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Polish Cent ...

, ''Getto warszawskie. Przewodnik po nieistniejącym mieście'', Warsaw 2001 *

Hanna Krall Hanna Krall (born 1935), is a Polish writer with a degree in journalism from the University of Warsaw, specializing among other subjects in the history of the Holocaust in occupied Poland. Personal life Krall is of Jewish origin, the daughter of ...

, ''Dowody na istnienie'', Warsaw 1996 * The Author of Himself: The Life of Marcel Reich-Ranicki * Brown, Kellie D. (2020). ''The Sound of Hope: Music as Solace, Resistance and Salvation During the Holocaust and World War II''. McFarland. .

External links

Artists of the Warsaw Ghetto
1922 births 1942 deaths Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust 20th-century Polish women singers People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto Polish people who died in Treblinka extermination camp {{Poland-singer-stub