Irena Anders was a Polish stage actress and singer. During WWII she worked in the troupe of Henryk Wars

Henryk Wars

Henryk Wars was a Polish and later American pop music composer. He wrote the music for 50 films in the interwar period in Poland and sixty more in the United States...

, giving performances for the Polish Armed Forces in the West

Polish Armed Forces in the West

Polish Armed Forces in the West refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies...

 (commanded by general Władysław Anders). She was one of the first singers to sing the Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino

Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino

Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino is one of the best-known and most beloved Polish military songs of World War II...

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Born as Iryna Jarosiewicz in Bruntál

Bruntál

Bruntál is a town located near the western boundary of Moravian-Silesian Region, in Czech Silesia. A suitable position in the middle of the Jeseníky Mountains provides an ample number of touristic opportunities to the town...

 (present-day Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

), she used the stage name Renata Bogdańska. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, she remained in United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. In 1948, she married General Władysław Anders. She starred in several movies. In 2003, a documentary film was made about her. On 12 May 2007, the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski

Lech Kaczynski

Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...

 awarded Anders the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, "for outstanding contribution to the independence of the Polish Republic, for Polish community and social activities" .

She died, aged 90 from a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 on 29 November 2010, in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

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