Ernst Engel

German pianist (b. February 20, 1901 in Berlin - d. June 6, 1958 in Paris) Studied music and piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin; from 1926 he played piano in bars, on the radio, on recordings and in Ufa films. When the Nazis banned him from working as a musician because of his Jewish origins, he emigrated to Vienna. There, he joined the newly founded successor group of the Comedian Harmonists, the Viennese exile group Comedy Harmonists (2). He accompanied them on recordings and on several international tours until March 1937. Remaining in France, he was interned when the war broke out in 1939. During the German occupation, he managed to escape from a labor camp and hide in the countryside. After libertation, he worked as a bar pianist in Paris. Suffering from Parkinsons Disease, he tried to settle in Germany in late 1957, but then returned to France, where he died in June 1958 in Paris.