Zygmunt Białostocki was a Polish Jewish musician. He composed many popular Polish pre-war songs, and worked as conductor and a première pianist in Warsaw between the World Wars. Białostocki was born in Białystok, Poland. Between 1925–1930 he worked as music director and conductor in the Municipal Theatre in Łódź. Later he moved to Warsaw, where he worked in “revue-theaters” and cabarets, including Perskie Oko, Morskie Oko, Nowy Momus, and Nowy Ananas. He worked with the lyricistZenon Friedwald. His song M’ken nisht tsvingen tsu keyn libe was popularized by the film actor and singer Eugeniusz Bodo in the Polish version called Nie można kogoś zmuszać do miłości. His tango Rebeka, built on Chasidic motifs and sung by Chasidic Jews as a zemer was popular in nightclubs, coffee houses and restaurants across Warsaw between the wars. The lyrics is by Andrzej Włast; the song was first recorded by Zofia Terne and premiered at the Morskie Oko cabaret by Dora Kalinówna. In 1932 he was the music director and composer of the score for Białatrucizna movie. In 1933 he worked as accompanist in the Warsaw Nowy Momus and Oasis cabarets, in the Warsaw-Prague Perskie Oko cabaret and in the Warsaw Nowy Ananas theater. His musical comedy called Miłość i złoto , written with Józef Haftman, opened in December 1933 at the Teatr 8:30. Apart from Rebeka, Białostocki's other szlagiery included: - foxtrots: Ach, te Rumunki, Katiusza, Andriusza, Ecie-pecie ; - tangos: Jesienne marzenia, Andrusowskie tango, Pomalutku, po cichutku, Szczęście trzeba rwać jak świeże wiśnie and Zoboth. and Choć goło lecz wesoło, Nasze kawalerskie, Noc jesienna, Na dnie serca, Nie można zmuszać do miłości, Pieśń o matce , His wife Sofia was also a composer. After the German invasion on Poland in 1939 the Białostockis were forced to live in German-ordered ghetto in Warsaw. They are mentioned about in Stanisław Adler's Warsaw ghetto memoir. Zygmunt Białostocki was murdered by Germans during the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto, most probably in 1942.
