Wysocka refused to pursue a career in Hollywood. Later, her lover escaped from Auschwitz, his wife helped her

Lidia Wysocka was born in 1916 in Rogaczew near Kiev. She was one of the biggest stars of pre-war cinema. She amazed me with her talent and beauty, she was decisive and brave. Despite this, she did not avoid great dramas. She gained fame at the age of 17, when she took part in the Miss Photo competition of the “Kino” magazine. “You don’t even have to be an expert to notice Miss Lidia’s unique photogenicity, especially her eyes are brilliant and expressive,” one could read in a popular magazine.

Wysocka was honored and called one of the most beautiful participants of the competition. It was then that she decided to become an actress. She joined the group of students of the State Institute of Theater Art, whose founder and director was Aleksander Zelwerowicz. The mentor did not allow students to appear in films during their first year of study, but this rule did not apply to Lidia, although she paid a high price for greater freedom.

“I went through an ordeal. First he allowed me, and then he harassed me. Being late for classes was unthinkable, and I was still late, going to the university straight from the set. I came in, out of breath, still in my movie costume, and he was already waiting for me on the stairs , with a stern face and showing the watch eloquently. A moment later, he was pushing me to do some heavy dramatic exercises. I was terribly tired,” recalled the actress quoted by pomponik.pl.

In 1935, the actress played the main role in Marta Flanz’s film “Love Only Me”. A moment later, Wysocka could be admired in “Papa się zżenia”. The artist quickly became so famous that she received an offer straight from Hollywood. To this day, many fans of Wysocka’s roles are amazed why the actress refused to do so at the beginning of her career.

She gave up her career in Hollywood for love

“I am perfectly aware of what it would look like. After half a year of sitting in a closed villa and learning English, I would be given money to return home, in accordance with the contract,” Wysocka explained her decision in an interview with “Kin”, quoted by the Wirtualna Polska portal.

An additional argument for staying in Warsaw was the actress’s love life. She met Wysocka on the set of Michał Waszyński’s film “The Last Brigade” by Zbigniew Sawan. On the screen, she played the actor’s wife and quickly fell in love with him. However, the creator, who was 12 years older than me, was married. However, the actor’s partner failed to keep her husband, and soon Sawan moved out of the house.

When World War II broke out, Wysocka moved to her mother near Warsaw. There she was visited by the German director and screenwriter Leni Riefenstahl. Wysocka again received an offer she couldn’t refuse, which was supposed to influence the development of her career, but she refused again. “When the ‘Zbyszkos’ refuse, Leni announces with a radiant smile that the war is over and the tragedy is over, to which Lidia very coldly replies that for us the tragedy is just beginning. The German woman cools down and leaves,” Sister Sawana says about the incident. , actress Jaga Boryta in the book “And I Only Wanted to Be an Actress”, quoted by the Viva portal.

Instead of pursuing a career in Nazi Germany, Wysocka started working at the Film Artists’ Cafe. In 1940, with her friends, she founded the Na Metresoli cabaret there. She didn’t have to wait long for further proposals. Igo Sym, working with the Germans, visited the café and offered the actress a contract with the UFA studio. “I was offered the opportunity to go to Ufa, that they would teach me the language and that I would be a German film star. […]. Of course, I refused,” the actress said in one of the documentaries.

She refused to cooperate with the German label. Her beloved was sent to Auschwitz

Soon, the artist was imprisoned in Pawiak together with Sawan. Wysocka was released quite quickly, but her partner was not so lucky. Sawan was transported to Auschwitz. Wysocka went out of her way to get her beloved out of the camp. Her friend and Sawan’s ex-wife helped her in her attempts to free the actor. In the same year, the actor returned to Lidia. “If I were to go back there one day, it would only be after cyanide,” he commented on his stay in Auschwitz.

After the war, Sawan and Wysocka finally got married. The marriage lasted 10 years. The actress did not return to the peak of popularity. “It all had great promise, but before the war I played in eight films in three years, and after the war, in fifty, in seven,” said the actress, quoted by Pomponik.

Wysocka acted in theaters, and in the 1950s she joined Buffo. Six years later, she founded the Wagabudna cabaret, which she ran for the following years. Stars such as Jeremi Przybora, Jacek Federowicz and Maria Koterbska performed in the cabaret.

“It was the best cabaret of those times, which traveled around the world without any subsidies and entertained audiences in both hemispheres. After paying for the costs, it still brought profits. It was hosted many times in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Scotland, Israel and Czechoslovakia,” Witold recalled the initiative. Sadowy, quoted by Viva.

Lidia Wysocka died on January 2, 2006 in Warsaw at the age of 90.