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Sasha Semenoff (1924-2013) was born Abram Shapiro in Riga, Latvia. Sasha played the piano at age 6 and got his first violin at age 9. In a 2009 Las Vegas Sun interview, Sasha told the story that while being transported to a concentration camp a German Nazi soldier saw him holding a mandolin and instructed him to play “La Paloma.” To his great fortune, he was able to do so and always felt that that moment saved his life.