Aleksander Kulisiewicz

Aleksander Kulisiewicz (7 August 1918 – 12 March 1982) was a Polish singer, journalist and a political prisoner during the World War II occupation of Poland.^[1][2]

Aleksander Kulisiewicz
Born	(1918-08-07)August 7, 1918 Kraków, Austria-Hungary
Died	March 12, 1982(1982-03-12) (aged 63) Kraków, Polish People's Republic
Resting place	Salwator Cemetery, Kraków
Occupation(s)	Journalist, singer
Years active	1939–1981
Known for	Collection of music composed in Nazi concentration camps
Awards	Medal for Fighters Against Fascism (1965)

Early life

Kulisiewicz was born on 7 August 1918 in Kraków. He studied law in German-occupied Poland and worked as a journalist. In 1940, in reaction to his article "Heil butter! – Enough of Adolf Hitler!" he was deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.^[3] In the camp, he sang and learned songs passed on to him by other inmates,^[4] especially from fellow prisoner Martin Rosenberg (known as Rosebery d'Arguto), including his Tsen Brider-inspired "Jüdische Todessang" (Jewish Death Song), which d'Arguto had composed in 1942.^[1][5]

Post War

Following liberation and the end of World War II, he began to document the songs he had learned from other inmates. He dictated hundreds of songs in four languages to a nurse in Kraków.^[6] Due to his extensive interpretations of camp songs, he was nicknamed the Singer from Hell.^[7]

Kulisiewicz died on 12 March 1982 in Kraków.^[8] He is buried at Salwator Cemetery.