Albert Harris

Albert Harris

1911--11-28

Warsaw

1974

composer, lyricist, and singer

Trained as singer, pianist and composer, he began to record in 1933 (under the names of Albert Liff and Albert Holm). During the years 1936-39, under contract with Odeon records, he achieved popularity using the name Albert Harris. At the start of World War II, Harris found himself in the Soviet zone, in Lwów, working with the orchestra led by Henryk Wars. In 1944, he recorded with Eddie Rosner several patriotic songs (an effort initiated and facilitated for propaganda reasons by Polish communists active in the USSR). Among these songs were “The Forgotten Little Street” and “The Song about My Warsaw,” which in face of the overwhelming destruction that befell the Polish capital from hands of the Nazis, took on a special role. The listeners were touched to the quick by this tuneful song with lyrics that eulogized death of their beloved city and offered hope for its rebirth at the same time. After the war Harris left Poland: he was active as a composer in Sweden, and later moved to the United States.

Aaron Hekelman

Albert Liff

Albert Holm