He was allowed to play the trumpet in the gulag to boost the morale of the other prisoners.
Eddie Rosner: A famous jazz trumpeter. Rosner traveled the world under his band name “The Syncopators” (referencing the musical practice of syncopation, commonly used in jazz), and even working his way up to the State Orchestra of the USSR during World War II. He was arrested shortly after the end of the war for trying to leave the country illegally and was sentenced to 10 years in the gulag. He was allowed to play the trumpet in the gulag to boost the morale of the other prisoners. He was released in 1954 and had a semi-major comeback. He founded his own big band and toured the country, even appearing in a film or two.