The Dancer and the Holocaust: A Biography of Pola Nireńska

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In her book Tancerka i Zagłada (The Dancer and the Holocaust), Weronika Kostyrko uncovers the story of dancer Pola Nireńska (1910-1992) whose career was repeatedly interrupted by antisemitism and fascism. Born Pola Nirensztajn in Warsaw, Nireńska lived and worked in Poland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Great Britain before leaving for America. Kostyrko’s biography intertwines the story of an outstanding Jewish dancer, the history of the avant-garde in Europe and the United States, and the story of the Holocaust in Poland. Kostyrko’s book also sheds light on an unknown chapter in the biography of Jan Karski, a member of the Polish prewar establishment and wartime underground, with new revelations on Karski's attitude towards Jews.  

Kostyrko retraced Nireńska’s life and legacy on the basis of interviews with the last witnesses living in the USA, with Nireńska’s relatives in Israel, as well as correspondence and archives scattered on three continents. Nireńska herself did not leave diaries, private letters, nor do we have a film record of her dance. Her name survives in The Jan Karski and Pola Nireńska Award, awarded annually by YIVO.

Join YIVO for a discussion of this important new biography featuring Kostyrko in conversation with YIVO’s Executive Director Jonathan Brent.

Read selections from the book.

About the Author

Weronika Kostyrko worked for 20 years for the Polish liberal daily "Gazeta Wyborcza” as parliament reporter and correspondent in Germany, among other duties. As editor-in-chief of the newspaper’s women’s supplement, "Wysokie Obcasy,” she published many life stories of outstanding Jewish female figures. From 2011 Kostyrko served for five years at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as editor-in-chief of the Culture.pl website that included many articles on Yiddish culture, bios of Jewish artists and descriptions of their selected works. She is currently working on a biography of Rosa Luxemburg.