I couldn’t pass up an article titled “Love for accordions even saved his life”, and this story of accordion player/repairman/collector Nic Schewtschenko doesn’t disappoint. During World War II, he and thousands of other Russians were rounded up and put in a camp outside Minsk by German soldiers. Fortunately for Schewtschenko, he had a talent that the Germans needed:
“After two days of no food, a German officer waded through the Russian captives, asking for someone who knew how to fix accordions. Apparently the soldiers had damaged theirs during drunken frolicking the night before… The Germans took him to a garage where he was fed, given time to recoup his strength, then put to work mending the accordion while many of his compatriots starved to death in the field.”
After the war, Schewtschenko moved to Canada where he owned a construction business and repaired accordions on the side. Today he’s 87 years old and, while he’s retired and in the process of selling most of the 60 accordions he has accumulated over the years, is still sought after for his accordion expertise.