Polish/Jewish Tango 1935: Adam Aston - Miasteczko Bełz (Meyn Shtet'l Belz)

Adam Aston & Ork. Syrena Rekord - Miasteczko Bełz, Tango (Muzyka: Burstein, Lith – Polish text: Frey, Roman) [Meyn Shtetl Bełz, tango from Yddishe Operetta „Dos Lid fun Getto” (A Song From Ghetto) in theatre Eldorado, Warsaw (1933)] Syrena-Electro 1935 (Polish)

NOTE: It is one of the best performances of this famous Polish-Jewish tango ever. From its creation in the 1930s until today, it has become so popular that is considered until now one of the national melodies from the Jewish national songbook. In general, there is quite a mess associated with this song. It was originally written in New York in 1932 by composer Alexander Olshanetsky (1894-1946) with lyrics by Jacob Jacobs for the Jewish operetta "Dos Lid fun Getto," which premiered in New York in 1932. It was sung by Iza Kremer, who referred to her hometown in Moldova, the village of Bielce (pronounced Bels). Thus, by mistake, the Polish version refers to the Polish town of Bełz, located near Lwów (now in Ukraine), whose name is also pronounced Bels.

The song immediately became a huge worldwide hit and is considered one of the most poignant pre-war Jewish melodies. In Poland, it was performed at the Eldorado Theater in Warsaw in 1933 or 1934 by Jewish comedian Pesach Burstein, who also used the name Paul and is listed in a pre-war book of Polish musical artists. The song became extremely popular in Poland, especially when it was recorded in 1935 by Adam Aston. However, the Syrena-Electro label incorrectly stated that the composer was Pesach Burstein. The mistake was repeated by the Lwów-based Polish music publishing house Pro Arte, so the American author Olshanetsky sued them for copyright infringement. The defense was based on the fact that the melody was based on a Jewish folk tune, and the verdict of the trial was "not guilty". In this clip, I used an uncopyrighted recording from the collection https://archive.org/details/@jakej