Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust-Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind's Darkest Hour

The violin has formed an important aspect of Jewish culture for centuries, both as a popular instrument with classical Jewish musicians—Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, Itzhak Perlman—and also a central factor of social life as part of the enduring Klezmer tradition. But during the Holocaust, the violin assumed extraordinary new roles within the Jewish community. For some musicians, the instrument was a liberator; for others, it was a savior that spared their lives. For many, the violin provided comfort in mankind’s darkest hour, and, in at least one case, helped avenge murdered family members. Above all, the violins of the Holocaust represented strength and optimism for the future.

In Violins of Hope, music historian James A. Grymes tells the amazing, horrifying, and inspiring story of the violins of the Holocaust, and of Amnon Weinstein, the renowned Israeli violinmaker who has devoted the past twenty years to restoring these instruments in tribute to those who were lost, including 400 members of his own family. Juxtaposing tales of individual violins with one man’s harrowing struggle to reconcile his own family’s history and the history of his people, it is a poignant, affecting, and ultimately uplifting look at the Holocaust and its enduring impact.

This meticulously researched narrative brings their stories to light:

• The Power of Music: Discover how for some, a violin was a liberator or a savior that spared their lives in concentration camps, while for others, it was an instrument of vengeance for murdered family members.
• Stories of Hope: Follow the individual journeys of instruments and their owners through ghettos and camps, including the infamous Auschwitz, where music became a tool for survival.
• Human Resilience: Witness the strength of the human spirit as Jewish musicians clung to their culture and humanity in mankind’s darkest hour.
• A Luthier’s Quest: Meet Amnon Weinstein, the Israeli violinmaker who lost 400 family members, as he dedicates his life to restoring these violins and giving voice to the silenced.
• The Palestine Orchestra: Uncover the astonishing story of how Bronisław Huberman recruited Jewish performers to form a new orchestra in Palestine, saving them from the encroaching Nazi tyranny.