 Mr. Levin was an emigrant from Berlin where he owned and operated a bookshop and recording label "Semer" (from the Hebrew "Zemer", meaning song).The Semer label operated from approximately 1932 until the recording masters and inventory were smashed and burned during Kristallnacht.Hed-Arzi started operating in September 1947, managed by Ephraim Felix Rzeczynski, making it the oldest recording company in Israel (followed by Makolit in Jaffa, Tslil in Tel-Aviv and others).