Jerzy Kosinski

Jerzy Kosi?ski (June 14, 1933 ? May 3, 1991) was an award-winning Polish-American novelist, best known for the novels The Painted Bird (1965) and Being There (1971), the latter of which was adapted into a film in 1979.

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Kosi?ski was born Józef Lewinkopf to Jewish parents in ?ód?, Poland. As a child during World War II, he lived in central Poland under a false identity his father gave him to use, Jerzy Kosi?ski. A Roman Catholic priest issued him a forged baptismal certificate. The Kosi?ski family survived the Holocaust thanks to local villagers, who offered assistance to Jewish Poles often at great personal risk (the penalty for assisting Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland was death). Kosi?ski's father received help not only from Polish town leaders and churchmen, but also from individuals such as Marianna Pasiowa, a member of the Polish underground network helping Jews to evade capture. The family lived openly in D?browa Rzeczycka near Stalowa Wola, and attended church in nearby Wola Rzeczycka, obtaining support from villagers in K?pa Rzeczycka. They were sheltered temporarily by a Catholic family in Rzeczyca Okr?g?a. The young Jerzy even served as an altar boy in a local church.

Polish-American: Polish-American refers to American citizens of Polish descent. More than 1 million Poles have migrated to the United States, most in the early 20th century. Exact immigration numbers are impossible to obtain, since after the partitions of Poland the state ceased to exist, while U.S. Census classifi...

Novelist: REDIRECT Novel...

The Painted Bird: The Painted Bird is a controversial 1965 novel by Jerzy Kosi?ski which describes the world as seen by a young boy, "considered a Gypsy or Jewish stray," who wanders about small towns scattered around Central or Eastern Europe (presumably Poland) during World War II....