the original success of the Comedian Harmonists, with the German group stifled by political in-fighting and heavy censorship, as well as the war draft (call-up). The emigrant group toured extensively all across Europe (excluding Germany and, from 1938 on, Austria), but also in the Soviet Union, South Africa, South America, and Australia where they were particularly successful and considered settling down since the Australian government had offered them citizenship. However, after a North American concert tour in 1940, they were unable to return to Australia. Their last concert was in Richmond, on May 1, 1940. After that, they were unable to find work in America due to hostility toward German entertainers, and the group split up. The Bulgarian Asparuh Leschnikoff (also spelt Leshnikov) returned to his fatherland in 1938 and started a successful career. By 1941, both groups had broken up. Although all members survived the war, they never re-formed after the war. Erich Collin created a new group in the late 1940s, consisting of himself (now as a baritone), Jack Cathcart (Piano), Fred Bixler (First Tenor), Murray Pollack (Second Tenor), Nicolai Shutorev (Buffo) and Arthur Atkins (Bass). When Shutorev died unexpectedly while the group was on tour in Norway in September 1948, Erich Collin asked Harry Frommermann to jump in as a replacement, and so two of the original Comedian Harmonists were reunited on stage. They continued the tour and recorded six songs for the label "Le Chant du Monde" in Basel in 1949. Shortly afterwards the group disbanded, allegedly due to a lack of discipline among the American members. The group remained largely forgotten until filmmaker created a four-hour black-and-white television documentary, in which he interviewed the surviving members in 1975, who were scattered throughout the world. The documentary aired over two nights in German in 1977 and caused a resurgence of interest in the music of the Comedian Harmonists, with their records being released on vinyl. In 1979 Erwin Bootz and Robert Biberti received the certificate and the trophy of the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis in the category "Historische Aufnahmen-Unterhaltung" for the double-LP, Die Comedian Harmonists Story, Odeon 1 C 148-32 974 M . They won recognition from the musical entertainment industry in 1998 when they won the Echo Prize from the Deutsche Phonoakademie. Dramatic representations They were the subject of the 1997 German movie Comedian Harmonists, released in the United States as The Harmonists. In the film, the