Milwaukee musical's violins survived Holocaust: 'History in my hands'

MILWAUKEE - There's something about live theater – the lights, costumes and sets are all spectacular, but in Skylight Music Theatre's latest show, "Fiddler on the Roof," perhaps the most powerful piece of storytelling is truly instrumental. 

Instrumental piece of history

The backstory:

"This prop is an actual relic from what the time period of the production is about," said actress Kimberly Hanson. "I think that it’s very – it’s just a really incredible match."

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Two violins, played both on and off stage, survived the Holocaust. It's fitting for this production, a musical about a Jewish family. The instruments are in Milwaukee as part of the Violins of Hope residency. 

"This is the violin that we will have for the show," explained Avshalom Weinstein, the founder of Violins of Hope. "It’s a very beautiful violin, very unique in many, many ways. It has this beautiful Star of David and the label inside is in Hebrew."

Weinstein's grandfather was a Holocaust survivor who experienced the role music played in concentration camps. Sometimes, music was used as a form of prayer or connection amongst prisoners. Other times, they were forced to play by Nazis. All of those memories, albeit tragic and dark, live on forever in these violins.  

"Some of these instruments you can still hear the sounds of their owners," Weinstein said. 

Violins of Hope

Dig deeper:

Wanting to keep those sounds alive, Violins of Hope got its start. 

"Many people came to my grandfather, and they sold him their instruments," Weinstein explained. "They didn’t want to play them or touch them anymore."

After World War II, there was a ban in Israel on everything German. 

"My grandfather bought whatever he could, knowing he could not sell them, Weinstein said. "He bought them because they were good instruments, because he believed these instruments should be played again one day and the people who owned them, wouldn’t have done that."

Over the years, Avshalom and his father have grown the collection to more than 100 stringed instruments, sll repaired and restored – a process that can take anywhere from a month to two years. 

"With these instruments, you can touch something that belonged to this specific person and his or her story," Weinstein mentioned.

Instruments continue to tell stories

What they're saying:

Not just touching history, but learning it. 

"Today, the kids won’t have a chance to meet a [Holocaust] survivor. Most of the survivors are not talking anymore," Weinstein said. 

These instruments will continue to tell the stories of their owners forever, both those who survived the genocide and those who died. 

"They tell their stories through the music because when you play a musical instrument for a long time, you leave your own musical mark into it," Weinstein explained. 

It's something Kimberely Hanson is experiencing first hand. 

"It’s a huge responsibility, and it’s not something I take lightly," Hanson said. "You can almost feel the energy in the instrument, just the history and the stories and the tragedy that the people who owned it and played it."

Fiddler on the Roof

What they're saying:

Hanson plays the Fiddler in "Fiddler on the Roof." She remembers the moment she learned she would play a Violin of Hope. Her instrument was donated by the family of Shimon Kringold, a man who died near the end of the war. 

"The only thing they have from their uncle and all his family is this violin and a photo of him playing it," Weinstein said. 

Pamela Simmons, a violinist of 48 years, also plays a Violin of Hope in the orchestra. 

"Well, I actually think it’s just gorgeous," Simmons said of the instrument. 

Simmons said the instrument plays beautifully, but the tragic story it tells holds weight. She's taken the time to learn all about Sandor Fisher. A man born in 1919 who started playing violin at age 6. 

"He took his father’s place [in the camp] and ended up playing, forced to play for the officials there, and he eventually escaped," Simmons said of Fisher. 

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Simmons is playing Fisher's violin in "Fiddler."

"This opportunity to hold history in my hands and make sounds with it and think of who held it before and what the circumstances were, it's different than just thinking about history, it’s holding it. I don’t have any words," explained Simmons. 

"I know that there are people that don’t like what we do," Weinstein added. "They think these should only be exhibits, but musical instruments are made to be played."

Around Wisconsin

What's next:

Over the next four months, the instruments will be used in more than 80 events throughout Wisconsin. Something Weinstein said his grandfather never could have imagined all those years ago. 

"We had a beautiful collection of excellent German-made instruments which was in Israel then practically worthless," said Weinstein. 

Perhaps worthless then, but now, it's priceless. A collection carries on the legacy of hope, resilience and tradition.