Josef Schmidt (1904–1942) was a tenor and actor. He was born in Davideny in Austria-Hungary, later Romania, and now part of Ukraine!
He had a sweet lyric tenor voice with an easy high register, sailing up even to a high D. His warm timbre was perfectly suited for the melodies of Schubert and Lehár. His popular song recordings were the best-sellers of that age.
The Nazis banned him from performing in Germany and Austria because he was Jewish, but he was still very much welcome in The Netherlands and Belgium, where he was immensely popular.
When the war broke out in 1939 he was caught in France by the German invasion. He attempted to escape to the United States but, failed. Making a dash for the Swiss border, he was interned in a Swiss refugee camp in Gyrenbad near Zurich in October 1942. He had been already in frail health. Harsh camp life and lack of medical care brought about a fatal heart attack on November 16, 1942. He was only 38 years old.
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