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

by James A. Grymes

A stirring testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of music, Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, and the Israeli violin maker dedicated to bringing these inspirational instruments back to life.

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Holocaust, Music, World War II, Judaism, Biography

339 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2014

About the author

James A. Grymes is a critically acclaimed author who frequently appears as a public speaker at libraries, museums, synagogues, and universities, as well as prominent venues such as the United Nations Headquarters, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference, and the historic 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. An internationally respected musicologist, he has been featured in interviews by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, and CNN. Dr. Grymes lives in Charlotte, NC, where he is Professor of Musicology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is a recipient of a National Jewish Book Award.

Reviews

[Jan Rice]

Violins lost to Jews during the Holocaust are subsequently restored.

Although some of the musicians who once played the neglected and severely damaged instruments were silenced by the Holocaust, their voices and spirits live on through the violins that Amnon has lovingly restored.

The author reports the right-wing antisemitism after WWI: blaming Jews for the loss of the war, accusing Jews of degrading the culture by assimilating into it, and so on. Meanwhile German intellectuals stood idly by. As the scene deteriorated Jewish musicians formed musical leagues of their own. They tried to maintain.

Despite increasingly more severe immigration restrictions, an orchestra's worth of musicians were eventually saved. Toscanini directed the first concert of the Palestine Orchestra in December, 1936. Story set against backdrop of Balfour Declaration (1917) and subsequent heightened restrictions. ...The orchestra included a female cellist--Only woman musician in the half of the book I read.

For some reason the violin has been a favorite Jewish instrument. Jews and violins were linked. Hence this book.... The author says German violins from the second half of the twentieth century are just as good as the French and Italian violins of that era, but sold for much less and were relatively lacking in prestige. Reason--low demand: Jews weren't buying them.

The book then launches into the stories of a number of individuals and their violins, enumerating the specific circumstances that each encountered. And I lost my already modest interest. All right, I said; I'll skim on through and dedicate a couple evenings to the task. But even that was too much. Reading the book was depressing.

Why? I'm not sure. It's easy to make up reasons. It's not simply because it's negative. Maybe negative for the sake of negative? Making a fetish of it. A liturgy to recount and repeat. Dry, prosaic. Even a double-time forced march through the rest of it seemed too much, especially with so much else beckoning. Putting it aside was like removing a weight.

[Margaret Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: This is a reread. Elgin is sponsoring an exhibit of these very violins. The opening was this week. The concerts are in May. I've been working on these programs for 9 months. The author is coming. This time through and having heard the actual violins it is much more powerful. This is truly an important endeavor and I am so proud to play a part. One little detail, one family was killed on May 21, 1942. Our concert is on May 21. We will be lighting a yahrzeit candle. If you are local, go see the display at Gail Borden. And please, come hear the violins themselves.

This is an intriguing concept and an important lens through which to learn more about the Holocaust. How did one of the most cultured countries become amongst the most barbaric? How could a people who loved Bach and Hayden and Handel force musicians to play music while they systematically murdered others? How could music save some people's lives? How to preserve the history and the sound of these very special violins? Those of us who did not directly experience the Holocaust can better understand, although we can never understand, the depth of the depravity. This book helps make it even clearer. It leaves me even angrier. I am not convinced that these are indeed, "Violins of Hope." Reading it as I did between Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel Independence Day made it even more alive--and at first I thought more hopeful. But I end in great despair.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find it of interest to read about the Holocaust. This book has a bit of a different take. The Violins of Hope focuses on Jewish people who were musicians. All of them played the violin. Each of them were victims of the Holocaust. It was the Violin that saved most of them. During this horrific time when Jewish citizens were taken to some of the concentration camps, they had their violins with them. They were rounded up to be in some of the music groups in the concentration camps and played for the officers there. The violin they played often spared their lives. Each of these violins has a "story' Each ending up in the violin repair shop of Amnon Weinstien. He repaired these violins for free or very little money. He wanted to preserve the violins that had a history to them. Each chapter focuses on a person who owned that violin and ended up a victim of the Holocaust. Very interesting book. I liked how these violins help to spare the lives of some innocent Jewish people.

[Chynadolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am nearly 65 years old and have heard about, read about or watched movies or documentaries about the Holocaust most of my life, but every time I read something like this I am amazed and shocked that an event such as the Holocaust took place without an appropriate response from the nations of the world -- including the one I live in. How is it possible that so many people were systematically murdered for doing nothing except being a Jew. I learned much from this book. Not only about aspects of history that I had never knew about, but of the inspirational and persuasive value of good musicianship. The stories, while horrifying, touched my heart. Thank you to Amnon, those who cherish those violins and the author for bringing these stories to us.

[Don Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book portraying Jewish music and musicians during the Holocaust. It is an extremely sad memorial to the millions who died experiencing the worst in humanity. I had to stop several times as the sorrow of the tales in this book were palpable. Words fail to describe the depths of sorrow for the poor families wiped out entirely in such a small amount of time. The book doesn't gloss over the brutality. Well worth the read.

[Marilyn (not getting notifications) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violins of Hope by James A. Grymes was recommended by another teacher at my school for me to read. She knew that my preferred genre was historical fiction and thought that I would enjoy reading this book. We often exchange books and I was glad she lent this one to me. I thought that this book was going to read more as a story about the violins being rescued and how they were restored. In contrast, the author wrote the book about the individual owners of each violin and their story of how their violin helped him and his family survive and live throughout the Holocaust. It was almost like reading several short stories that came together at the end.

Violins of Hope touched upon several lives of Jewish individuals and their families during the Holocaust all living in different parts of Europe. The one common thread that these individuals and families shared in common was their love of the violin and its music. In each of the several lives explored by James A. Grymes, the violin was the catalyst to help them survive the Holocaust. I had read other books about the Holocaust describing how the Nazis had made groups of Jewish musicians play their musical instruments as the deportation trains arrived at the concentration camps trying to fool the new arrivals into thinking their final destination was not a terrible place. It was despicable though to think that these musicians were made to play their instruments as they witnessed fellow prisoners being murdered or tortured. The musicians knew that they had to perform to survive. They did not have a choice if they were to survive.

Amnon Weinstein, son of Moshe and Golda, was born in Palestine in 1939, after his parents moved from Vilna. His father, Moshe, opened a violin store in Tel Aviv. When his father passed away in 1986, Amnon inherited the music store and became one of the best luthiers in Israel and the world. Around 1990, Amnon, not only began to train his son in the art of restoring violins but took on a new interest of researching, finding and restoring violins that Jewish musicians played during the Holocaust. Many of the violins that Amnon was able to find were badly damaged during the Holocaust and had been left idle for many, many years. Amnon's work in restoring these violins was difficult and tedious. Sometimes it could take him over eighteen months to restore one violin. The violins Amnon was able to restore have become part of the Violins of Hope and "serve as memorials of those who perished, during the Holocaust and represent the future". "Wherever there were violins, there was hope."

Violins of Hope was a moving, disturbing and beautiful story all at the same time. For me, this was a new way of looking at the Holocaust and how much music influenced who lived and who did not. The bravery of many of the musicians was transparent in their stories. What Amnon Weinstein has set out to do in restoring these precious and meaningful instruments is beyond commendable. He is a special man. I highly recommend reading Violins of Hope.

[Marguerite Hargreaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Went to a Nashville Symphony concert to hear the Violins of Hope (also a cello and viola), which was a very moving experience. Learning the history of some of the musical instruments we heard and the efforts made to repair and preserve them just makes the experience richer and more poignant.

James Grymes has done an impressive job of research, under what has to be difficult-to-impossible circumstances. The amount of detail works against the readability at times, though. I appreciate the inclusion of opinions of death-camp survivors who only want to forget the sounds of their horrifying experience. The journalist in me wants to hear more from Amnon Weinstein, who's spent 20 years collecting and preserving the musical instruments.

" 'Never before had I heard such a beautiful sound. In such silence,' [Elie] Wiesel later recorded. 'All I could hear was the violin, and it was as if Juliek's soul had become his bow. He was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play again.' "

[Polly Locke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the format of this book. It was divided into sections on the Violins of Hope as well as focusing on the musical history during the Holocaust. I was fortunate to see the Violins when they were on the exhibit in Fort Wayne IN. Although I have read many books on the Holocaust, this book and Exhibit told the complete story of the Jewish orchestra that played at all the concentration camps. A very sobering read as well as an educational and emotional journey.

[Eugenea Pollock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read 33% of this book, but I just could not go on. The research is good, and the subject matter is interesting. So what’s wrong? For me, it is the way it is written. It is a dry recitation of facts, as if it were a thesis or a dissertation. It seems lifeless and a bit tedious, in my opinion.

[Hailey Rose]

DNF around 50%. It was really good and I learned a ton. Just needed something more gripping to hold my interest right now. Highly recommend though, and I’ll probably come back to finish it eventually!

[Aurangzeb Haneef · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like violins.
And I like violins even more if they have played a part in people's struggle for keeping alive their humanity in the face of utter tyranny. This is such a story told well for the most part featuring various violins, their journeys, and what these meant to their owners/players, especially in very dark times. Sometimes, however, the writing dragged a little due to the similarity in stories and abundance of details. But overall, it was well done: an inspirational account of "in an ugly time the best protest is beauty." (p. 28) The stories focused on the Jewish musicians who survived the Holocaust mainly due to their music. Most astonishing are the stories of orchestras in Nazi concentration camps!
The stories also make several points. In my view, these are still open questions. One suggestion made by the author through Mosche, a violinist, and a violin repair man, is that people who played music could neither be evil nor violent. This, of course, is clearly questioned by the role played by the Nazi Music during the Holocaust.
I also wonder if these musicians who were involved in the "Violins of Hope" project, or others, thought about the evil and violent side of the Zionist project and not just that of the Nazi project? Many Jewish musicians in exile migrated to Palestine and played there as part of the Palestine Orchestra inaugurated in 1936. Huberman, who founded the orchestra wanted to showcase Jewish musical greatness in response to antisemitism and propagate Zionist agenda. He had imagined it as the orchestra of exiles. Isn't it then ironic that the Palestine Orchestra was later renamed Israel Philharmonic Orchestra? That it was part of a larger project of the Zionist Israeli state that itself created millions of Palestinian exiles? Did music and musicians become coopted in that political project unwillingly or was the humanity of these musicians and the beauty of their music limited to their Jewish identity and was not extended to the Palestinian exiles? I do wonder what these musicians later thought of their government's actions. Although it was not the aim of the book to explore such matters beyond the role of music in the lives of Jewish musicians under the Holocaust, I still could not help notice the irony of these stories in the light of what transpired under the Zionist state.
Overall, it is a decent book with inspirational stories and useful information on Jewish musicology especially that which is related to the violin.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book was a fascinating glimpse at how music can play a role in survival. I say "little" because the actual text, short of the notes and index, comes in at under 300 pages. I would have loved for it to be twice as long.

I've read a lot of Holocaust memoirs and histories, but was fascinated by Grymes' approach to looking at music in general and violins specifically and the role they played in created ways for people to survive. Yes, there were a few who were able to make it out of occupied areas partly because they were well known and talented, but there are just as many stories here about everyday families - even young boys - who were able to live a little longer due to the gift of music. Some of these people went on to do amazing things, or helped to turn the tide of the occupation.

Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, this is a well-written and well-researched book that I learned quite a bit from. Many of these are stories I had never heard before, and in all honestly I knew very little about the occupation of Norway prior to Violins of Hope. Highly recommended to those interested in the Holocaust, survival stories, or lovers of music.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read many books that deal with the Holocaust but I was unaware that there were "instruments of hope and liberation in mankind's darkest hour." For me, this book was fascinating and I loved every word of it because it taught me that the strength to endure the unendurable can come from music. This book is rich in everything that makes a book a treasure...love, history, bravery, and so much more. I urge you to read this exceptional book and to also visit the authors site at the following link http://www.jamesagrymes.com
I recommend this brilliant novel to anyone who wants to learn more about the history of the Holocaust. Thank you Mr. Grymes.

[Herman Schotanus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would very much like to read the ms partly. Violins of Hope by James A. Grymes
The topic is very interesting and the book might need to be translated.
Please advise me how to start reading parts of the book.
Herman.

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

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a classical music lover who loves(but does not play) the violin, this book resonated with me in a big way. It is a group of stories about violins which were owned by Jews during the holocaust which were found and restored by Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein. sad, yet touching, these violins with their histories, both tragic and rewarding are told by author James A. Grymes about violins lovingly restored and some which are played occasionally or kept at the Yad Vashem memorial.
Great read.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book about some of the violins that survived the Holocaust. Some of their players survived, many did not. A violin craftsman in Israel has restored many of these instruments and they are played today in concerts memorializing the musicians who endured the Nazi atrocities. Some of them played in concentration camps, in partisan outposts, or in orchestras. Horrific stories, but also tales of courage and the power of music to inspire.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

*ARC
This book read more like a holocaust history book than a book about violins during that time period. I was looking for more backstory on the violins's journeys or the musical history of the owners, and less of how awful that time period was.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, simply heartbreaking!

[Catherine Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. James A. Grymes, a professor of Music History at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, has brought forth such a well researched and well told story of violins that survived the Holocaust, even when many of their owners did not. It is fascinating and horrifying, an emotional retelling of what happened to violinists - famous and not - during a period in history where Jews were savagely exterminated all over Europe. In some instances, these violins saved their owner's life and that of their families.

I read this book in preparation for interviewing Dr. Grymes for a show I host called Inside Scoop. The upcoming collaborative exhibition called Violins of Hope is taking place in Richmond, Virginia, from August 4th to October 24th. The violins in this exhibit were played by Jewish musicians in camps and ghettos during the Holocaust and ended up in the hands of Amnon Weinstein of Tel Aviv, a second generation craftsman who repairs violins. The stories of the instruments, their owners and how they came to be in Amnon Weinstein's shop makes for riveting reading.

There is so much I did not know about the role that music played during the Holocaust. There were camp orchestras at many concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, where work details left in the morning to the music of the orchestra and returned in the evening greeted by the same music. Providing music for soldiers spared the lives of some musicians who were given extra food or lighter work assignments. Dr. Grymes has focused his book on telling detailed stories of musicians from Germany to Romania, the Ukraine to Norway. There is a great deal of significant history woven into the telling of these very personal accounts. I learned so much.

Bronislaw Huberman, Ernst Glaser and his wife Kari, the boy partisan Motele Schlein, Feivel Wininger and his baby daughter Helen. Their lives mattered and Dr. Grymes has sought out their stories as a way of preserving their memories the way their musical instruments have been lovingly preserved.

Amnon Weinstein lost over 400 members of his family. His parents refused to speak about the loss of their parents, siblings and extended family during the Holocaust. Yet Amnon, who learned violin repair from his father Moshe [who was taught by violin maker Yaakov Zimmerman] finds hope in restoring and sharing these violins. He observed that while Nazis did not survive beyond WWII, these violins have. "These instruments are a testimony from another world."

Although Nazis did not survive beyond the defeat of Germany, fascism lives on all over the world and is on the rise. For the 15th consecutive year, there has been a decline in global freedom. Teaching history - fully and truthfully - is important in helping each new generation understand we are not immune to the basest, darkest and cruelest instincts of human beings. Evil is never truly eliminated, it is kept at bay, and only the greatest vigilance prevents another Holocaust in a different iteration from happening again.

I highly recommend reading this book and then making plans to visit the Violins of Hope in Richmond Aug. 4th thru Oct. 24th at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, The Virginia Museum of History & Culture and the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia. There will also be a series of concerts in collaboration with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra where these violins will again bring comfort and joy to those fortunate enough to hear them. More information can be found at www.ViolinsofHopeRVA.com

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book after the Violins of Hope tour came to my city. We went to see an exhibit of the violins as well as heard them played in concert. Some of the violins were very well-restored and quite beautiful with mother-of-pearl and abalone inlays. Some violins had been left unrestored. The concert was also very good. I wanted to read this book about some of the violins from the Holocaust. Violins are an important part of the Jewish culture and their have been many talented Jewish classical musicians. Many, if not most, of these musicians were lost during the Holocaust. However, for some lucky musicians, their talents were able to save their lives and others. Some played in concentration camp orchestras that saved them from the hardest work details and gave them extra food. Amnon Weinstein lost his parent's entire family during the Holocaust and his father never wanted to discuss it. After his passing, Amnon started to learn more about the Holocaust when people would bring their relatives' violins for repair to his shop in Israel. He began to restore these instruments to their former state as way to reconcile his family's lost past. This is a very interesting book but sometimes it felt like their were too many names. Perhaps better editing would have helped. Fascinating to see how music was appreciated both by the oppressed and their oppressors and the power of music to save lives during the worst time in history.

[Naphtali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my word, people... this book! This is one that will not be easily forgotten.
I had the opportunity about a year ago to attend a violins of hope concert at the Nashville symphony, and it was definitely one of the more memorable performances I've been to. The music selections were perfect, and just thinking about the history of the instruments that were being played made the experience even more meaningful.
And now to read the detailed history of those instruments, the stories of their former owners and what those owners and instruments went through... moving, touching, and powerful aren't quite strong enough words to describe the effect this book had on me. If you're a musician or music lover you should make the time to read this book. We don't often think about the role of music during the holocaust, but this book paints a very poignant picture of music, musicians, and their instruments during the holocaust. Music literally helped some escape, helped others survive the horror and inhumanity, and provided an odd combination of torture and comfort to countless others.
I guarantee this book will leave an impression on you.

[Cynthia Karpa McCarthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jay Grymes chronicles the history of several violins, their owners and their fates during WWII. Some were played in concentration camps in the rain as new prisoners arrived. One violin case was used to bring explosives into a restaurant commandeered by German officers and soldiers. Others were sold to finance families' escapes. All of them are tied to brutal events that might require you to take days-long pauses between chapters like I did.

These violins continue their travels, now restored, on Violins of Hope tours around the world. Learn more about the restoration and the family of violinmakers in a public television documentary viewable through Ideastream at https://www.ideastream.org/programs/s....

I highly recommend this book on its own. It's a marvel how Prof. Grymes traced the history of these instruments and the people who played and treasured them.

[Ann-Marie Messbauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a violinist and also someone who recently read Elie Wiesel's Holocaust memoir, "Night," I was able to appreciate this book. I thought it was well-structured. Each chapter was devoted to an individual's compelling story, but taken all together provided a larger view of the expanse and bleak horror of the Nazi's reign. It didn't merely focus on the concentration camps, but also highlighted the Jews' plight in Romania, Ukraine, Norway, etc., and how difficult it was for those trying to escape to British-run Palestine (or anywhere, for that matter). In some instances, the ability to play a violin literally could save one's life.

The title is "Violins of Hope," but man's inhumanity to man dominates. It was too easy for the Nazi's to tap into already existing ignorance and pervasive anti-Semitism. It is a condemnation against the world that such stories in this book should even have happened.

[Trina Dubya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this because I work for an orchestra that hosted part of the Violins of Hope collection when it was on tour. It took several months for me to finish it, and for good reason. The suffering of the people who owned and played the violins is described painfully thoroughly by Dr. Grymes. But these are stories that need to be told and read.

The violins, violas, and cello I saw bore scars from their treatment during the war that happened eight decades ago. Some were played beautifully, and some could not be repaired. This book tells the stories of several violins in the collection, including two that I held in my hands. Reading the book enhances this experience, and vice versa.

[Katrina Shawver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not recommend this book unless . . . you are looking for a historical text-like book of the Holocaust that does not go into depth in any chapter. If you are looking for a compelling read or great story skip this book. There is no continuous thread or narrative - Six chapters - six different historical sets of information about various people and their violins during the Holocaust. It is written by a professor of musicology so expect a lot of musical terminology and Holocaust history. Overall, this was a book that sounded interesting and was instead disappointing and frankly, boring. The ONLY reason I give it three stars is to recognize the research that went into it.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an insightful book which explored the stories of Jewish violin musicians during the Holocaust, in several countries. The author is Chair of the Music Dept at UNC-Charlotte, and brings his subject into the present with Amnon Weinstein, a violin maker who has devoted years to restoring these instruments as a tribute. They are now played in symphonies around the world.

Each violin provides a fascinating glimpse at the power of music to lift the human spirit in unimaginable circumstances. Simply beautiful.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories need to be told, and the frame of viewing the Holocaust through this particular musical instrument is powerful. Reading these raw facts and accounts brought me to tears multiple times. The different facets of music in the life of a musician and bystanders is not insignificant. Music saves lives; music clothes prisoners with dignity; music gives hope. Music gives opportunities; music strengthens our hearts. I’m not sure how excellent this book is because of the writing, but the subject matter is not hampered by it, so it’s told well enough.

[Jaclyn Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is haunting & disturbing - giving you a picture of some of the parts of the Holocaust less talked about. Several of the stories chronicle the tragic stories of Jewish refugees outside of Germany. Written in a matter of fact tone, stories about individual musicians experiencing the Holocaust are shared & how their ability to play changed their lives even in the midst of horrific circumstances. This book is ultimately one of the most bittersweet I have ever read.

[M. Zimmerschied · Rating 4 out of 5]

Music can touch our hearts like nothing else. Just as the title says, “Violins of Hope”. I was inspired by stories of those that played these instruments, appalled by the evil of fascism and taking advantage of one’s neighbors to save one’s skin, and given hope by the fact that because the instrument and the music lives on so do the voices of those that Hitler and his kind did their best to wipe out.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in connection with the touring exhibition of the restored violins of the Nazi holocaust of Jews and other undesirable persons. One of the most compelling depictions of the horrors brought to life that I've read. It's history and journaling through the stories of these instruments and their owners.