Playing Level: Very Good
On January 27th, 2015, International Holocaust Day, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra held a festive concert sponsored by Franz-Walter Steinmeier—then the Foreign Minister of Germany and today the president of the German Republic—celebrating Violins of Hope. It marked 70 years of the liberation of Auschwitz by the Soviets. That day, we got a new violin with a unique history. Sabine Conrad, a German young woman, gave us the violin which was given to her many years before by an 80-year-old man, an old, committed communist and a devoted violinist, Erich Winkel. Sabine took care of Erich, who gave her his beloved violin as a token of gratitude and appreciation. Erich bought the violin from a Gypsy when he played in the communist youth orchestra. The orchestra used to play in the early 1930’s in the “Red Wedding community in north Berlin, and was often attacked by Nazis, even before the Nazis came to power. Erich was very proud of his instrument which, he said, survived many ferocious attacks by Nazi hoodlums. And now it plays in concerts the world over, telling his personal story as well the sad story of that era.
