Wiera Gran

Wiera Gran (Weronika Grynberg) (20 April 1916 – 19 November, 2007) was a Polish singer and actress. She was also known as "Vera Gran" and "Mariol".

One of the most talented and mysterious Polish singers endowed with an unparalleled timbre of voice. She escaped from the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. In 1947 in Poland she was accused of collaboration with the Germans during 2nd WW by Jonas Turkow, Władysław Szpilman and Adolf Berman. She emigrated to Israel where she faced similar accusations. In 1950 she emigrated to France. She was associated with a stage theatre, Alhambra of Maurice Chevalier and collaborated with Charles Aznavour. The first song which made her popular was composed in 1937 by Edward Kurtz (later known as Eddy Courts) to the lyrics of Gran. She visited Poland in 1965. Some of her best know songs include "List" (muz. Eddy Courts), "Wir tańca nas porwał", "Gdy odejdziesz", "Trzy listy", "Fernando", "Cicha jest noc", "Varsovie de mon enfance", "Ma Patrie", "Mazowiecki wiatr".

Collaboration case

After the war she was accused by Jonas Turkow and Władyslaw Szpilman Joanna Szczęsna, Piętno, "Gazeta Wyborcza - Wysokie Obcasy", 31 maja 2008. [http://kobieta.gazeta.pl/wysokie-obcasy/1,53662,5260775,Pietno.html] ] of collaboration while in Warsaw Getto and later, outside of the Getto at the "arian" part of Warsaw - in Hotel Polski. In 1947 Sąd Obywatelski przy Centralnym Komitecie Żydów Polskich was considering the case and she was found not guilty in 1949 (case dropped by lawyers for the CKŻP because of the lack of incriminating evidence). The "Żydowski Instytut Historyczny" in Warsaw holds documents from that period. She was also boycotted and accused of collaboration with GeStaPo in Israel and tried to clear her name in courts there but the trial was finally suspended in 1982 with no sentence. In her book "Sztafeta Oszczerców" [ *Wiera Gran, Sztafeta oszczerców: Autobiography, Paris, 253pp, 1980 (self published). ] published herself in 1980 in Paris Wiera Gram gives herself account of her innocence. There are few accounts suggesting that the accusations could be fabricated. Antoni Marianowicz, considers the accusations as "profoundly idiotic" [ Antoni Marianowicz, Życie surowo wzbronione, Czytelnik, Warszawa 1995, str. 61 ] He goes on to state that Wiera Gran was "singer and only singer" and was known to him for her philanthropy. Similar statement is made by Joanna Szczęsna published "Gazeta Wyborcza" . Her opinion is that accusations were based on personal animosities between Wiera Gran and Jonas Turkow as well as Wiera Gran and Władyslaw Szpilman. Szczęsna quotes, on the basis of documents preserved in the ‘’Żydowski Instytut Historyczny’’ in Warsaw statements of witnesses such as Jurandot, Krystyna Żywulska and Izabela Czajka-Stachowicz who all claimed that accusations against Wiera Gran were based on hearsay.

References