Oral history interview with Sasha Semenoff conducted by Claytee D. White on April 29, 2009 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Semenoff begins the interview by discussing his early life in Latvia and learning to play the violin as a child before the Nazi invasion. He describes being a Jewish Holocaust survivor, surviving the ghettos and concentration camp where he was held, and explaining how he immigrated to the United States after he was liberated. Semenoff then discusses moving to New York City, New York, where he joined the musician's union before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1959. He details his career as a prominent lounge and big band violinist in Las Vegas, where he played at several different casinos, including the Desert Inn Lounge, the Dunes Hotel and Casino, and the MGM Grand Hotel. Semenoff also talks about the musicians he has played with, such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, his work at the time of the interview, and the presence of organized crime in Las Vegas.
Irving Kirshbaum (1909-1980) worked for Willie Alderman and Dave Berman at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1955 until the 1970s. Kirshbaum was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and lived in Los Angeles, California before he moved to Las Vegas in 1955. He worked as a "box man and a floor man" at the Riviera.
David Straus was born November 11, 1964 in Las Vegas, Nevada to Joyce Straus, an artist, and Neil Straus, a doctor. After graduating from Clark High School, he attended the University of Arizona and then Whittier Law School. Straus built a successful legal career focused on estate planning, asset protection and charitable planning.