Vera Gran (1916–2007)

At the same time, additional witnesses testified before officials from the Ministry of Public Security, seeking to determine whether the accused, Wiera Gran (married name: Jezierska), was guilty of collaborating with the Germans during the war or perhaps had nothing to do with it. The case of the renowned singer, who voluntarily reported her occupational history to the Ministry of Public Security, was soon taken over by the Special Criminal Court, which called additional witnesses. At the same time, the Association of Polish Stage Artists (ZASP) conducted a similar investigation to determine whether Wiera Gran should be allowed to perform on stage.

The case continued to be heard until the autumn of 1945. In October, the ZASP (Association of Polish Artists) tribunal ruled: "the conduct of citizen Wiera Gran-Jezierska during the German occupation [...] was beyond reproach." The ruling bears the bold signature of the then-president of the court and widely respected artist Aleksander Zelwerowicz . Prosecutor Rudzewicz, who handled her case before the Criminal Court, soon after filed a motion to dismiss the case. He explained: "given that the charges are based not on specific facts but on general and baseless slander, the investigation into this matter should be discontinued." The judge agreed to the prosecutor's motion, and on November 26, 1945, "due to the lack of criminal elements," he dismissed Wiera Gran-Jezierska's case.

Such investigations were not uncommon. Verification proceedings to determine whether a given individual had committed crimes during the war or served the occupying forces were commonplace. Typically, an acquittal or dismissal of the case closed the debate and allowed the accused to return to normal public life. This case, however, was unusual.

Wiera Gran was an exceptional figure. She was born in 1916 to Eliasz and Liba Grynberg . Her father died when Wiera was three. She, along with her two older sisters, Hinda (Helena) and Marj (Maryla), were raised by a single mother. In the 1920s, they lived in Wołomin in a modestly furnished, rented apartment. These circumstances forced Wiera to work at a very young age – even before her tenth birthday, she was working in a knitting factory, mending sweaters and stockings. From childhood, she was interested in music.

In 1931, she, her mother, and her sisters moved to Warsaw, to 8 Elektoralna Street , on the corner of Orla Street, where they "nestled" together in one room. Despite poverty, Wiera was able to continue her education – she attended middle school at 12 Rymarska Street and later managed to get into Irena Prusicka's renowned dance school . Years later, she recounted that Prusicka – aware of her difficult financial situation – did not charge her tuition. From that school, she found a job as a dancer at the "Paradis" restaurant.

A road accident changed her career. She broke her pelvis and was unable to dance, forcing her to focus on singing. Her low, husky alto voice captivated listeners, and she quickly began to build a devoted following. By 1934, she had recorded her first records, and her performances at "Paradis" began to be advertised in the press. During this time, she experimented with various stage names, such as Sylvia Green, Wiera Green, and Mariol. However, she quickly abandoned them in favor of Wiera Gran. Her popularity grew, and more and more venues sought her performances, allowing her to freely command her fees.

Her initial salary of 5 złoty per performance quickly rose to 25 złoty, and over time, to 150 złoty. This meant she could earn more in a single evening than the average worker earned in a month's work. She performed regularly at Cafe Vogue at 7 Złota Street and gave weekly concerts on Polish Radio. In 1936, she moved from her roommate's room to an elegant apartment in a tenement building at 40 Hoża Street . Years later, she recalled, "I earned an excellent living and had plenty of work." She spent her last pre-war vacation at the Grand Hotel in Sopot. After her vacation, she planned to travel to Paris for guest performances.

However, she remained in Warsaw. Fortunately, her family was unharmed during the city's siege. In the first weeks after the German occupation began, she decided to move east, to the territories then under Soviet occupation. Her companion during this period was Kazimierz Jezierski , a doctor she had met recently, two years her senior . Over time, the two began to be described as married, although it is unclear whether they actually were. After the war, Kazimierz testified: "I was not married to my wife, and I lied so that it would not be revealed that I had been living with Wiera Gran without being married." In Lviv, Wiera secured engagements at the "Marysieńka" and "Stylowy" theaters. Her performances soon enjoyed considerable success. When the theaters were closed, Wiera had to decide whether to join one of the troupes performing in the USSR or return to the General Government established by the Germans.

She chose the latter. After a short stay in Kraków, when the ghetto was established there in March 1941, she returned to Warsaw and joined her mother and sisters imprisoned in the ghetto. Her husband also returned to Warsaw, but remained outside the walls. She sometimes met him at the Courts Building on Leszno Street. Wiera quickly found her footing in the ghetto and began performing in cafés, most frequently at the famous "Sztuka" at 2 Leszno Street . Years later, she credited herself with promoting this establishment:

"It's hard to believe what has happened at 'Sztuka' since the day I performed there. A small café, which customers would randomly drop into, suddenly became a sensation."

She went on to recount how she brought many other artists to "Sztuka," such as the pianists Władysław Szpilman and Adolf Goldfeder , who accompanied her , and the poets Józef Lipski and Władysław Szlengel , who wittily commented on the current situation in "Żywy Dziennik." There was probably much exaggeration in her words, but she was indeed a popular artist, and her salary still allowed for a relatively comfortable life.

After the war, Gran liked to talk about her social work – organizing a recital for the sick musician Leon Boruński and creating the "Detention Center" for street children at 12 Nowolipki Street. In reality, as other accounts indicate, she was not so much an organizer as one of the artists supporting these initiatives, donating part of her salary to them. Furthermore, she likely campaigned on behalf of those in need, and thus came into contact with prominent businessmen in the ghetto. One of them was the respected baker Dawid Blajman , whom she was supposed to convince to donate bread to the Detention Center. Besides him, she also reached out to individuals with much less notoriety – the notorious collaborator Abraham Gancwajch and two wartime upstarts who maintained close ties to the Germans: Moryc Kohn and Zelig Heller . As she testified in court, she visited Gancwajch to "sell tickets to charity events or to receive aid for starving actors," while Kohn and Heller were said to have generously donated to the Detention Center. However, many interpreted these contacts as evidence that Gran was also in the German service. Suspicions were reinforced by her private performance for another collaborator, a certain Szymonowicz. Wiara Gran never managed to shake these suspicions—they followed her for the rest of her life.

In August 1942, as the Germans were diverting trains daily from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp , Gran climbed over the walls to hide with Kazimierz Jezierski. Thanks to her husband's connections, they were able to stay overnight with a number of acquaintances. After about two months, they found stable housing and hid for the rest of the occupation in Babice , near Warsaw , where Jezierski worked as a doctor. Wiera tried to rescue her sister from the ghetto, but the outbreak of the ghetto uprising in April 1943 thwarted her plans. In June 1944, she gave birth to a son, Jerzy, who died a few months later. Until the arrival of the Red Army, she remained in Babice, visiting Warsaw only occasionally.

The rest of the story—the arrest, the dismissed trial—has already been described. It seemed the matter was settled, and in the autumn of 1945, she could return to the stage.

In November, she appeared on Polish Radio, giving her first concert after the war. In the following months, she performed throughout Poland – numerous posters from her performances in many cities survive from this period. However, she still felt threatened. Years later, she maintained that Władysław Szpilman and Jonas Turkow were constantly campaigning against her, accusing her of alleged collaboration, and therefore felt the need to fully clarify the matter. In 1947, she filed a motion with the Ministry of Justice to reconsider. Simultaneously, proceedings were underway before the Social Court of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland , which received considerable press coverage. In both cases, numerous witnesses were questioned. The prosecutor again found no evidence of a crime in their testimony and, in his motion to dismiss the case, argued:

"Besides these testimonies and those given by several witnesses < > No concrete evidence has been collected about Vera Gran. […] It must be concluded that the few incidents of being in the company of Gestapo officers cannot constitute evidence of anyone collaborating with the Gestapo."

The Social Court reached a similar conclusion and in April 1949 decided to acquit Wiera Gran.

These verdicts failed to dispel all doubts, as it remained unclear whether her "bad reputation" was, at least in part, justified. Gran continued to feel besieged by critics, and over the following years she developed a morbid belief that Szpilman and Turkow were constantly trying to destroy her career.

In 1950, she moved to Israel, separating from her husband, Kazimierz Jezierski. She struggled to settle down for a long time. From Israel, she left for France, then Venezuela, then back to France. She then settled in Israel again, eventually returning to France. Although she constantly tried to escape the rumors circulating about her, she likely unwittingly fueled them. Her musical career suffered from these constant relocations, as she was forced to take on new positions. It was only in Paris that she found permanent employment. For the next few years, she traveled the world giving concerts, until her career ended around 1970. Afterward, she continued to try to clear her name, including a trial that dragged on in Israel throughout the 1970s. She remained in constant contact with numerous investigators, attempting to convince them of her innocence. In 1980, she published her autobiography, "The Relay of Slanderers . " The copy of this autobiography I used has a handwritten dedication: "To Mr. Władysław Bartoszewski, with expressions of respect and a request for criticism. Wiera Gran, Paris, June 1981."

She died on November 19, 2007 in Paris.

 Bibliography: 

Gran Vera, A relay of slanderers, Paris 1980.
Tuszyńska Agata, Accused: Wiera Gran, Krakow 2010.
AIPN, Prosecutor's Office of the District Court in Warsaw, Files regarding the case of Wiera Gran-Jezierska, IPN GK 453/739.
AŻIH, Social Court, Case Files. Wiera Gran-Jezierska, 313 / 36.