He served in the Austrian Army during the First World War.
After the war, Erwin established himself as a leading German songwriter.
He had a great success with I Kiss Your Hand, Madame ("Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame"), which featured in the film of the same title of 1929.
[1] It was prominently used in the 1933 film Baby Face and Bing Crosby also later sang an English version, in The Emperor Waltz (1948) Erwin was a Jew and, following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, he went into exile in France.
Erwin was still in the country during Nazi Occupation of France and was eventually arrested.