Efim Schachmeister, a jazz-musician in Weimar Berlin

Chaim "Efim" Schachmeister, born 1894 as Chaim Chaissowsky in Kiev, Russian Empire, of Romanian parents, died 1944 in Buenos Aires, was a violinist and orchestra conductor.

He moved early to Germany where he appeared in 1915 with Zigeuner-Kapelle Popescu. In 1923 he had his own orchestra, with which he toured through Germany before obtaining a steady commitment at fashionable Hotel Excelsior in Berlin. This was followed by shorter or longer performances at dance venues such as Barberina, Palais de Danse and Pavillon Mascotte.

In parallel, Schachmeister embarked on a very productive career as a record artist with Deutsche Grammophon, especially for its sub-label Polydor. Here, Schachmeister made hundreds of recordings of everything from lounge music, gypsy music and schlager to pure jazz. Schachmeister himself - who was marketed as "the king of all dance violinists" - appeared as an instrumental soloist primarily in Gypsy style, but could also exhibit features of blues and of Jewish folk music.

At Hitler's takeover of power in 1933, Schachmeister – of Jewish descent - fled, first to the Benelux countries and then to Argentina, where he died in 1944. Which is to show that not only Nazis fled to that South American country in the 30's and 40s..

Von OTFW, Berlin - Selbst fotografiert, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31703581

More info about this artist: https://grammophon-platten.de/page.php?459