Violins of Hope a great event for the region

In an era when there are fewer and fewer people with living memory of the Holocaust, it’s crucial that we never let that tragedy’s horrific lessons fade from consciousness.

Berks County can take enormous pride for its long history of being at the forefront of efforts to preserve the memories of the horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany decades ago.

What’s particularly notable is that it’s not only Jewish institutions involved in this education effort. For many years local colleges, churches, schools and cultural institutions have been right there alongside the Jewish Federation of Reading/Berks and area synagogues, working to keep the message of “never again” alive.

A sterling example of this cooperation is taking place right now with the Violins of Hope program, a series of activities during the first two weeks of November.

Violins of Hope, which is making its first visit to Pennsylvania, is based on a private collection of violins, violas and cellos, each of which was played by a Jewish musician during the Holocaust.

The project includes concerts, exhibits, film viewings, lectures and other community events.

The list of participating organizations is staggering: the Jewish Federation, the Reading Symphony Orchestra, the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Kutztown University, Alvernia University, Albright College, Reading Area Community College the World Affairs Council of Greater Reading and the Reading Science Center, among many others. That’s not to mention 16 schools around the county that are holding programs related to Violins of Hope. We applaud orchestra Executive Director David Gross and Music Director Andrew Constantine for initiating this event here.

The program is the result of work by Amnon Weinstein, who spent two decades locating and restoring the instruments. He has said his work is dedicated to hundreds of his relatives who remained in Eastern Europe when his parents immigrated to Palestine in 1938. All of them were murdered during the Holocaust. His collection has traveled around the world, reviving the voices and spirits of those silenced by Nazi terror.

Jewish Federation President Bill Franklin noted that the violins tell a chilling story. Some were played as Jews were marched into death camps and led to gas chambers. But there is something uplifting about the fact that these instruments have survived and still make music. That’s why the focus here is on hope.

This isn’t just a history lesson. Violins of Hope has something important to say about the troubled times in which we live. We share the hope expressed by Gross and Franklin that this starts a community conversation about unity and hate and racism and hope.

“One of the barometers of success for this, I feel, is if these important conversations that are started during Violins of Hope continue after Violins of Hope,” Gross said. “We’ve all see the growing divisiveness. What we want to project from this two-week event is coming together and celebrating one another rather than separating out individuals.”

Franklin said confronting ignorance is the key to overcoming racism and other forms of hatred.

“The Holocaust is a dark mark in our history, and unfortunately it is still going on in parts of the world,” he said. “We can’t remain silent, we have to focus on working together to fight it.

“Most of what have is in common, so let’s work on what we have in common and not our differences.”

The public has the opportunity to see the instruments in exhibitions at the GoggleWorks, Kutztown and Alvernia. A concert featuring the instruments will take place Monday at 7:30 at KU’s Schaeffer Auditorium. The two weeks of activities will culminate Saturday, Nov. 14, with a Reading Symphony Orchestra concert at 7:30 p.m. in the Santander Performing Arts Center. Famed Israeli violin virtuoso Pinchas Zukerman will be a featured soloist.

Visit violinsofhopepa.org/ to see the full schedule of events and be sure to take advantage of this remarkable opportunity.