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Ady Rosner Orch. & Albert Harris - Piosenki żołnierskie (Polish Soldier Songs) 1943

2,166 views · Published 4 September 2016 · 6:25 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: 240252 · 2016 · Music

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Ork. jazzowa BSRR pod dyr. Ady Rosnera (Belorussian Soviet Republic Jazz Orchestra dir. by Ady Rosner) - Wiązanka pieśni żołnierskich, cz. 1, 2 (A Bunch of Polish Soldiers’ Songs, Part 1 & 2), Refreny śpiewane przez Alberta Harrisa oraz innych nierozpoznanych polskich artystów (Vocal by Albert Harris and some other uncredited Polish artists). Recorded by Aprelevskij Zavod in Soviet Russia, 1943 

NOTE: Two days ago passed the 77th anniversary of the outbreak of the 2nd World War. Therefore, I’m presenting now this mega-rare Polish record, which was produced in the USSR, during the 2nd WW.  Here’s the political background of it: After signing the Nazi-Soviet Alliance in 1939, the Soviet Union took part in the war against Poland and its subsequent dismemberment. The Soviet authorities declared Poland non-existent and all of former Polish citizens from the areas annexed by USSR were treated as if they were Soviet citizens. This resulted in approximately 2 million Poles being arrested and imprisoned by the NKVD and other Soviet authorities.  However, when in June 1941 the Germans attacked the Soviet Union, Stalin began to seek help from other countries opposing Germany. In August 1941, Polish Prime Minister in Exile gen. Władysław Sikorski and with the Soviet ambassador to London, Ivan Mayski signed agreement, according to which Stalin agreed to declare all previous pacts he had with Nazi Germany null and void, invalidating the September 1939 Soviet-German partition of Poland and releasing tens of thousands of Polish prisoners-of-war held in Soviet camps. On the wave of the détente between Poland and USSR also Soviet cultural policy was slightly changed and many Polish artists, released from the work camps, were invited to cooperate with Soviet cultural institutions. Polish division of record factory Aprelevskij Zavod opened its studio for  Polish singers, e.g. Eugeniusz Bodo (later murdered by NKVD),  Hanka Ordonówna, Albert Harris and some others. All such initiatives were controlled by Stalin’s censorship, therefore, for example, this “Bunch Of Polish Soldiers’ Songs” – a nice collection of Polish war songs from last 2 centuries -  is ended (in Part 2) by a triumphant Soviet song, which in 1943 became anthem of the Polish Military 1st Corp installed by Stalin within the Red Army. 

Bandleader Adolf (Ady or Eddy) ROSNER – called “Polish Louis Armstrong” - was a Polish/Jewish trumpet virtuose and bandleader, one of pioneers of the “high jazz” in Poland. Born in Berlin to a Polish/Jewish family of emighrants to Germany from Oświęcim near Cracow, Ady Rosner started in 1916 his musical education in Stern Musik Schule in Berlin. After graduation in 1920, he joined the newly formed Marek Weber’s dance orchestra.  During the 1920s Rosner earned international reputation as one of the best jazz trumpet virtuoses in Europe.  In the early 1930s he played in the best German jazz band The Weintraub Syncopators.  However in 1933, when NSDAParty won the election, Ady Rosner left Germany and traveled first to Belgium, where he played in the  jazz orchestra led by Fud Candrix, and later to Poland. In Warsaw, he completed the 13-piece Ady Rosner Dance Orchestra, in which he gathered Jewish musicians, who emigrated from Germany. His band promoted the jazz standards, yet it was reluctant in recording and only one session in Syrena Electro remains in the archives of Polish interwar jazz. Rosner’s band traveled also in Europe and in 1934 he met Louis Armstrong, who was of a high opinion about his talent. In Warsaw, Ady Rosner was a permanent performer at Café Esplanada and shortly before outbreak of 2nd WW, he married Ruth Kamińska – daughter of the most prominent Polish/ Jewish actress Ida Kamińska. Their house was destroyed during the bombardment of Warsaw in Sept. 1939, yet they managed to escape to the eastern territories of Poland, occupied by the Red Army. As jazz musician, Ady Rosner became popular among the influential Soviets, including secretary Ponomarienko, who permitted Rosner organize the jazz orchestra in Beloriussian Soviet Republic. Heard  by Stalin and applauded by him, Ady Rosner became a persona and in upcoming years he traveled  around the Soviet Union with his band, in his own train. Immensely popular, he was however refused to get permit to leave the USSR, every time he applied for the visa to Poland. Finally, in 1946 accused for “being cosmopolitan” Ady Rosner was arrested and sent to the work camp in Magadan. And again, the music saved him – as the camp bandleader Ady survived until 1954 when, he was released. Back in Moscow, Rosner organized a jazz ensemble, which performed and recorded, until 3 years before his death, Rosner was allowed to travel to Berlin. He died in 1976 and in today’s music anthologies in Russia,  he is usually called the “great Russian" or the "great German" jazz  artist.

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