The tenement house at 223 Niepodległości Avenue in Warsaw’s Ochota district is inextricably linked to the fate of the eminent Polish pianist, composer and protagonist of the film The Pianist, directed by Roman Polański. It was here that Władysław Szpilman’s hiding place was located, where the man spent many months during the Second World War. The artist survived mainly thanks to the help of the German officer Wilm Hosenfeld.
The life of Władysław Szpilman
Władysław Szpilman was born in 1911 to a Jewish family from Sosnowiec. He developed his musical talent at the Warsaw Conservatory and the Berlin Academy of Art. Before the outbreak of war, he was a valued pianist with the Polish Radio. After the radio station was closed by the Germans in 1939, the last piece he performed on air was the ‘Nocturne in C sharp minor’ by Fryderyk Chopin. Szpilman also made a name for himself as a composer of pop and film music, and many of his songs, such as ‘Czerwony autobus’, ‘Tych lat nie odda nikt’ or ‘W małym kinie’, became immortal hits. Szpilman came from a musical family – his father, Samuel Szpilman, was a violinist and his mother, Esther, was a homemaker. He had three siblings: brother Henryk and sisters Regina and Halina. Unfortunately, his entire family, with the exception of himself, perished during the Holocaust. Władysław Szpilman died on 6 July 2000 in Warsaw, at the age of 88. His death was a great loss to Polish culture, but his music and memories remained alive in the hearts of subsequent generations. The composer was laid to rest at the Powązki Military Cemetery.
History of the building at 223 Niepodległości Avenue
The building at 223 Niepodległości Avenue was constructed between 1924 and 1925 as part of a complex of three tenement houses erected for the ‘U Siebie’ cooperative. In 1927, an architecturally coherent house of the Housing Cooperative of Officials of the Ministry of Justice was added to it at 225 Niepodległości Avenue, at the corner of Filtrowa Street. Today, the complex stands at 217/225 Niepodległości Avenue. The whole has six storeys hidden behind a long, symmetrical façade in light shades of yellow. The façade shows decorative elements typical of modernism and the national style, such as semicircular arcades and a regular arrangement of windows with muntins. The multi-pitched roof originally featured several dormer windows, and more were added after the war. The staircases are also in keeping with the style of buildings from the first half of the 20th century. The staircase is made of dark terrazzo, with a metal balustrade decorated with geometric patterns. The floor tiles in shades of yellow and brown in the corridors and rest rooms are in relatively good condition. Also some of the doors to the flats date back to the time when the tenements were built. The buildings were damaged during the war, but were rebuilt soon after the end of hostilities, essentially preserving the original massing and details.
Szpilman’s hideout
Szpilman’s fate during the war was full of dramatic twists and turns. After the great deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto in August 1942, he managed to escape from the railway ramp on Stawki Street thanks to the help of an unknown Jewish policeman. Later, in 1943, he escaped from forced labour at the construction of blocks of flats for the SS on Narbutta Street and hid in various locations, including a tenement at 83 Puławska Street. The Warsaw Uprising found him in a flat at 223 Niepodległości Avenue. On the advice of a friend, he made his way to the Józef Piłsudski Hospital across the street, which had been abandoned by the Germans. After a week, the Germans returned to the building, forcing Szpilman to go to his previous hiding place. The man stayed there for many months. It was only after the liberation of Warsaw on 17 January 1945 that he was finally able to leave the attic.
Meeting with Wilm Hosenfeld
His meeting with Wilm Hosenfeld became one of the most famous wartime episodes commemorated on the big screen. Hosenfeld, a Wehrmacht captain, discovered Szpilman in the attic of an apartment building and then provided him with food and support, rather than handing him over to soldiers for certain death. In doing so, the German saved the pianist’s life. Szpilman did not learn the identity of his saviour until after the war, but did not manage to repay him for his help. Hosenfeld died in 1952 in a Soviet prison camp, and was posthumously awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and the title of Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. Szpilman maintained cordial relations with the family of his saviour until his last days.
Szpilman’s hideout – commemoration and legacy
In front of the tenement house number 223 in 2011, an art installation ‘Watchtower’ was set up by Slawomir Golonka, which refers to Szpilman’s story. The transparent capsules contain two figures, symbolically guarding the entrance to the building. A commemorative plaque in Polish and English dedicated to the composer was also hung on the wall of the building. The ceremony was attended by, among others, Wilm’s daughter, Jorinde Hosenfeld-Krejci, and Andrzej Szpilman, Władysław’s son. The artist, as a witness of those events, described his experiences in his book ‘Death of a City’, which became the basis for the three Oscar-winning 2002 film ‘The Pianist’, directed by Roman Polanski. His story is a reminder that the fate of an individual can reflect the tragedy of an entire nation.
Source: warszawa.naszemiasto.pl, iochota.pl
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A complex of tenement houses on Niepodległości Avenue in 1937 and 2025. Source: State Archive in Warsaw and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
Reconstruction of the tracks in Niepodległości Avenue, 1972 and the same place today. Source: NAC – National Digital Archive www.nac.gov.pl/ and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
