International Holocaust Remembrance Day: “Stories from the Violins of Hope”

The Center for Holocaust and Gender Studies-Muskegon is inviting the public to view the film “Stories from the Violins of Hope” and to participate in an online question-and-answer session with the director, writer and one of the actors.

The virtual event, which takes place on Thursday, Jan. 27, from 7:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. The showing coincides with the International Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and the day that Soviet troops entered Auschwitz liberating those Jews who were not forced to endure the death marches.

“Stories From the Violins of Hope” is an original drama which brings stories of surviving Holocaust violins to new generations through a filmed performance by The Braid, formerly the Jewish Women’s Theatre. The film tells the true story of the famed collection of stringed instruments that survived the Holocaust and were brought back to life, and to the world, by an Israeli family of violin makers.

The filmed performance features seven actors along with five musicians from the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony (LAJSCP), including virtuoso violinist Niv Ashkenazi, who plays a violin from the Violins of Hope collection.

“I had to find a way to let these violins speak, to tell the world they were once played by people who had dreams, and so much talent that has been lost,” said violin maker Amnon Weinstein, who founded the traveling Violins of Hope project with his son, to playwright Lisa Pearl Rosenbaum.

“Every piece of music played on them says, ‘Never again,’” added Weinstein, who lives in Israel, where he continues to restore Holocaust violins sent to him from all over the world.

To participate in the Center for Holocaust and Gender Studies-Muskegon event on Jan. 27:

1. Watch the two-minute trailer on You Tube at: https://youtu.be/N4FBVBL0ck4
2. Click on the following Eventbrite link to make your reservation: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stories-from-the-violins-of-hope-tickets-229625695637
3. Receive the Vimeo link along with a password to watch the 56-minute film on either Jan. 26 or Jan. 27; and
4. Receive a Zoom link for the Q & A session with the director, the writer, and one of the actors. from 7:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 27.

For more information, contact Chris Anderson, Chair of the Center for Holocaust and Gender Studies-Muskegon, at chgs.muskegon@gmail.com.