* 1911 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist ( d. 2000 )

* December 5 – Władysław Szpilman, Polish pianist and memoirist ( d. 2000 )

' speech to his brother Władysław Szpilman in a Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, Poland, during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

The Pianist is a memoir of the Polish composer of Jewish origin Władysław Szpilman, written and elaborated by the Polish author Jerzy Waldorff, who met Szpilman in 1938 in Krynica and became a friend of his.

Władysław Szpilman studied the piano in the early 1930s in Warsaw and Berlin.

The officer, learning that he was a musician, had asked him if he knew Władysław Szpilman.

As part of the 2007 Manchester International Festival, the memoir was performed as a two-man presentation, with pianist Mikhail Rudy and actor Peter Guinness both portraying Władysław Szpilman as he recounts his experiences.

The idea for the performance was originally conceived by the pianist, Mikhail Rudy, who gained the backing of Andrzej Szpilman ( Władysław Szpilman's son ).

* Władysław Szpilman information and biography

Władysław " Władek " Szpilman (; 5 December 19116 July 2000 ) was a Polish-Jewish pianist and composer as well as memoirist.

Władysław Szpilman and his family, along with all other Jews living in Warsaw, were forced to move into a " Jewish District "— the Warsaw Ghetto — on 31 October 1940.

Władysław Szpilman started playing for Polish Radio in 1935 as their house pianist.

In March 1999 Władysław Szpilman visited London for Jewish Book Week, where he met English readers to mark the publication of his bestselling book in England.

Other CDs with the works of Szpilman include Works for Piano and Orchestra by Władysław Szpilman with Ewa Kupiec ( piano ), John Axelrod ( director ), and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra ( 2004 ) ( Sony BMG ) and the Original recordings of The Pianist and Władysław Szpilman-Legendary recordings ( Sony classical ).

When not touring or building pianos, he has been editing piano editions of the works of Władysław Szpilman for Boosey and Hawkes and wrote a piece on aesthetics, which was published in Poland in March 2005.

The first Sopot festival was initiated and organised in 1961 by Władysław Szpilman, assisted by Szymon Zakrzewski from Polish Artists Management ( PAGART ).

Some people were hiding in the remnants of the city, e. g. Władysław Szpilman, who later wrote his memoir The Pianist, filmed by Roman Polanski ( The Pianist, 2002 ).

He helped to hide or rescue several Poles, including Jews, in Nazi-occupied Poland, and is perhaps most remembered for helping Polish-Jewish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman to survive, hidden, in the ruins of Warsaw during the last months of 1944.

House at 223 Niepodległości Avenue in Warsaw where Wilm Hosenfeld was helping Władysław Szpilman

In 2002, The Pianist, a film based on Szpilman's memoirs of the same name, portrayed Wilm Hosenfeld's rescue of Władysław Szpilman.