CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Israeli violin makers have spent the last 20 years collecting and repairing 70 Holocaust-era violins. On Thursday, 10 of those violins were on display for a special, one-day exhibit at the Pritzker Military Museum in downtown Chicago.
“When you hear the music played on these instruments, knowing their history, it gives it a different taste than a regular concert or regular event,” said Violins of Hope's co-founder Avshalom Weinstein. “It’s, in a way, very powerful.”
Weinstein said Violins of Hope is a collection of instruments — mostly violins — that belonged to Jewish people who played in camps during the Holocaust.
“Most of [the instruments] have stories of the individual who played them — many saved, some, unfortunately, died,” he said.
The historic violins, he added, give voice to the victims and reinforce messages of hope, harmony, and humanity.
“The Nazis used music in so many ways,” he said. “They would have people play on the way to gas chambers. They would have people play when the trains stopped, and they had people play for their own amusement at night. They also tortured people. It’s different when you hold something, which you know the real history of.”
Violins of Hope played its first concert in 1999 in Istanbul. Since then, the instruments have traveled to cities across the globe. The idea: to bring the stories of these violins to the masses.
“I think that the only way for us to make sure that these things do not happen again is through education,” he said. “Unfortunately, today, education is going to different places rather than history, all over the world. We tend to forget, even though it’s only, what, 80 years?”
Musicians from the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra will play the violins on display at the Pritzker Military Museum starting at 5 p.m., as part of the JCC Chicago Violins of Hope.
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