Pianist and composer Leopold Kleinman-Kozłowski dies at 100
In recent years, he performed in venues such as Klezmer Hois in Krakow and at the Jewish Culture Festival in Chmielnik.
Leopold Kleinman-Kozłowski, a pianist, composer, and actor who was called “the last klezmer of Galicia,” has died.
Kleinman-Kozłowski died on Tuesday in Krakow at the age of 100.
He was born on Nov. 26, 1918 in Przemyślany, which was Polish at the time and is now in Ukraine. Members of his family – including his grandfather Pejsach and father Tzvi Herman – played in klezmer bands.
During World War II, he lived in the ghetto in Przemyślany, and then in a forced labor camp in Kurowice. He fought in the partisan unit, and then in the ranks of the Polish Army, reaching Berlin.
After the war, he settled in Krakow, where he studied at the State Higher School of Music. He was the music director of the Army Song Festival in Kołobrzeg. In 1968, as a result of an antisemitic campaign, he was released from the army.
He worked as a music director at the Jewish Theater in Warsaw. He was a music consultant for the award-winning movie “Schindler’s List,” in which he played an cameo role
He was active on stage almost to the end of his life. In recent years, he performed in venues such as Klezmer Hois in Krakow and at the Jewish Culture Festival in Chmielnik.
Kleinman-Kozłowski received numerous awards and distinctions for his artistic activity, including the Medal for Merit to Culture “Gloria Artis,” and the title of honourary citizen of Krakow.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
