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| Sylvin Rubenstein was a Russian ] dancer and ], and member of the ] to ] during ]. | Sylvin Rubenstein was a Russian ] dancer and ], and member of the ] to ] during ]. | ||
| ==Pre-War== | ==Pre-War== | ||
| Born in 1917 in ] |
Rubenstein was Born in 1917 in ]. He left Russia for Poland with his mother and his twin sister Maria, when his aristocrat father was executed by the Bolsheviks. | ||
| Sylvin and Maria earned money by dancing in the town marketplace. By their teens, they were dancing professionally, as a ] act billed as Imperio y Dolores. | |||
| Penniless in the hamlet of Brodi, Sylvin and Maria learned early on they could charm pennies from passersby by dancing in the town marketplace. | |||
| As Imperio and Dolores they headlined at music halls throughout Europe, as well New York and in Australia. | |||
| By their teens, the brother-sister team were dancing professionally. Cashing in on a Latin craze, they did a ] act billed as Imperio y Dolores. | |||
| By the time they were 20, Imperio and Dolores were headliners at music halls in all European capitals, London, New York and as far away as Melbourne. | |||
| ==Nazi Occupation of Poland== | ==Nazi Occupation of Poland== | ||
| They were performing at Warsaw’s Adria theatre when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. |
They were performing at Warsaw’s Adria theatre when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. They were consigned to the ]. | ||
| Rubinstein nonetheless managed to escape the ghetto, wresting a machinegun from a guard and killing several Gestapo officers. | |||
| ==Entry Into the Resistance== | ==Entry Into the Resistance== | ||
| Line 23: | Line 22: | ||
| Werner arranged for fake ID papers for Rubinstein and his sister and urged them to head for Switzerland. But his sister insisted on trying to fetch their mother, still back in Brodi. | Werner arranged for fake ID papers for Rubinstein and his sister and urged them to head for Switzerland. But his sister insisted on trying to fetch their mother, still back in Brodi. | ||
| "I saw her board the train heading east and I knew as we waved to each other that that was the last time I’d ever see her...I could have insisted she stay with me. But I |
"I saw her board the train heading east and I knew as we waved to each other that that was the last time I’d ever see her...I could have insisted she stay with me. But I didn't. That is one of two things I’ve always regretted." | ||
| He never saw either his sister or his mother again. | |||
| Both his mother and sister died in ]. | |||
| Remaining in Warsaw, Rubinstein returned to Major Werner, who took the dancer under his wing and initiated him into the Polish resistance. | |||
| Rubenstein remained in Warsaw, and ws recruited into the Polish resistance by Major Werner. He became an accomplished assassin and saboteur. | |||
| It was through Werner that Rubinstein became an accomplished assassin and sabotage artist using the cover name Silwan Turski. | |||
| Rubenstein used his ability to pass as a woman in these missions. For example he recalled that a Gestapo officer "was a particularly nasty Nazi who took positive delight in finding Jews who were hidden in people’s homes...he would have the ] dragged off and also the German families who had sheltered them. Very nasty, indeed. Everybody in Berlin feared and hated him, Jews and Goyim alike...well, one fine day it was his birthday and a very elegant-looking lady (if I do say so myself) showed up at his office with a bunch of red roses, asking to see him alone." | Rubenstein used his ability to pass as a woman in these missions. For example he recalled that a Gestapo officer "was a particularly nasty Nazi who took positive delight in finding Jews who were hidden in people’s homes...he would have the ] dragged off and also the German families who had sheltered them. Very nasty, indeed. Everybody in Berlin feared and hated him, Jews and Goyim alike...well, one fine day it was his birthday and a very elegant-looking lady (if I do say so myself) showed up at his office with a bunch of red roses, asking to see him alone." | ||
| Line 42: | Line 39: | ||
| Rubinstein, in his female guise as Dolores, went on to become a major music hall entertainer in the 1950s. But advancing age and changing tastes took their toll. | Rubinstein, in his female guise as Dolores, went on to become a major music hall entertainer in the 1950s. But advancing age and changing tastes took their toll. | ||
| Reduced to performing in seedy clubs in Hamburg’s Reeperbahn |
Reduced to performing in seedy clubs in Hamburg’s ], he retired around 1970. | ||
| "I was dancing in a place where the headline act was a couple having sex on stage. That was when I said, |
"I was dancing in a place where the headline act was a couple having sex on stage. That was when I said, 'Dolores, it’s time to hang up the castanets.'" | ||
| As of January 2005, Rubenstein was alive and living in an apartment just off the ] in the harbour district of Hamburg. | As of January 2005, Rubenstein was alive and living in an apartment just off the ] in the harbour district of Hamburg. | ||
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Sylvin Rubenstein was a Russian Jewish dancer and cross-dresser, and member of the resistance to Nazism during World War II.
Pre-War
Rubenstein was Born in 1917 in Russia. He left Russia for Poland with his mother and his twin sister Maria, when his aristocrat father was executed by the Bolsheviks.
Sylvin and Maria earned money by dancing in the town marketplace. By their teens, they were dancing professionally, as a flamenco act billed as Imperio y Dolores.
As Imperio and Dolores they headlined at music halls throughout Europe, as well New York and in Australia.
Nazi Occupation of Poland
They were performing at Warsaw’s Adria theatre when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. They were consigned to the Warsaw Ghetto.
Rubinstein nonetheless managed to escape the ghetto, wresting a machinegun from a guard and killing several Gestapo officers.
Entry Into the Resistance
"One day a big, tall German army officer spotted me and kept staring at me...He followed me and then walked up to me and I thought, well, this is it."
It turned out the officer, Wehrmacht Major Kurt Werner, was a fan of Imperio y Dolores and remembered Rubinstein from an appearance in Berlin before the war.
Werner arranged for fake ID papers for Rubinstein and his sister and urged them to head for Switzerland. But his sister insisted on trying to fetch their mother, still back in Brodi.
"I saw her board the train heading east and I knew as we waved to each other that that was the last time I’d ever see her...I could have insisted she stay with me. But I didn't. That is one of two things I’ve always regretted."
Both his mother and sister died in Treblinka.
Rubenstein remained in Warsaw, and ws recruited into the Polish resistance by Major Werner. He became an accomplished assassin and saboteur.
Rubenstein used his ability to pass as a woman in these missions. For example he recalled that a Gestapo officer "was a particularly nasty Nazi who took positive delight in finding Jews who were hidden in people’s homes...he would have the Jews dragged off and also the German families who had sheltered them. Very nasty, indeed. Everybody in Berlin feared and hated him, Jews and Goyim alike...well, one fine day it was his birthday and a very elegant-looking lady (if I do say so myself) showed up at his office with a bunch of red roses, asking to see him alone."
Post-War
After the war, Rubinstein returned to dancing.
"Becoming Dolores was my way of coping with my twin sister’s death...only a twin can understand how horrific that was. It was like being torn in half. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her."
In Allied-occupied Germany Rubinstein testified on Major Werner's behalf before a US board to win his freedom.
Rubinstein, in his female guise as Dolores, went on to become a major music hall entertainer in the 1950s. But advancing age and changing tastes took their toll.
Reduced to performing in seedy clubs in Hamburg’s Reeperbahn, he retired around 1970.
"I was dancing in a place where the headline act was a couple having sex on stage. That was when I said, 'Dolores, it’s time to hang up the castanets.'"
As of January 2005, Rubenstein was alive and living in an apartment just off the Reeperbahn in the harbour district of Hamburg.
A documentary, Er Tanzte Das Leben (Dancing His Life), was made of his life story.
According to an article in Gazeta Wyborcza in May 2006, he returned for several engagements of dancing in Hamburg's gay clubs.