Dzigan & Shumacher

The famous Yiddish comedy duo

The archives of the EIJM gather many recordings of the famous comedy Dzigan and Shumacher.

Shimen (Szymon) Dzigan and Yisroel Shumacher (or Szumacher), born respectively in 1905 and 1908, grew up in Łódź, where the biggest Jewish community in Poland, after Warsaw, lived, at the end of the XIXth century and until the 2nd world war,

The recordings, edited by the music label OSI, are all 33 RPM discs, but there are also some 78 RPM discs, « super 45 RPM » (longer recordings) and audio cassettes. The disc sleeves, quite minimalist, look alike, with only the background color that changes.

Both artists play a distinct character : Dzigan is chatty, nervous and whining, whereas Shumacher is more flegmatic and giving lessons.

These recordings are aimed to a yiddish speaking audience.
But for those who don’t understand Yiddish, to listen to them with their typical intonations and accent, can make one wish to learn this language and thus enjoy this humour coming straight from the Yiddishland.