Kommander's Car

‘Paszport’ begins with a short extract in Polish from Kazik Piechowski, Carr’s main source of inspiration to whom she dedicates her record. Listening to Kazik’s voice, we not only hear a 92-year-old man who made a remarkable escape from Auschwitz in June 1942 – in Commandant Rudolf Hoess’s car dressed in SS uniforms – but also realise that the intergenerational link between Carr and Piechowski is key for the creating of this sensitive liaison. For it is the first time in Kazik’s life that someone has been inspired by his life to create something meaningful for him.
The first song is ‘Kommander’s Car,’ a fierce, pulsating, folk ballad describing Piechowski’s emotions in the last eighty metres of his escape. This song, initially released on Katy Carr’s previous album Coquette, has been remastered, but is crucial to this album as it is the point from which Carr’s current journey into discovering her Polish roots began.
‘Meeting Kazik changed my life. When I met him in 2009 and first played him my song Kommander’s Car, I had no idea that I would be taking this mammoth trip of discovery into my own Polish roots. Kazik’s story is therefore my key to gaining access to my own Polish heritage. Through the film I made with fellow British film maker Hannah Lovell, Kazik and the Kommander’s Car, we met Kazik for the first time. I have learnt through him how Polish people are so cool and fight for what they believe in. I am so very proud to have met Kazik and thank him forever for giving me back my love of Poland and my Polish blood.’