My father Henrik Unger, born in 1911, graduated from the music academy in Krakow, Poland, as a violinist and conductor. He also played the piano and trumpet. The violin was a part of his life all along. He never parted with his violin.
My parents immigrated to Palestine in 1935, when life was difficult. My father worked everywhere doing manual jobs, but always playing the violin, giving music lessons, sometimes just for a meal.
When Bronislav Huberman invited my father to join the Palestine Orchestra, my father turned him down because he needed to support his family and Huberman’s offer was without salary.
But he always played in cafes, weddings and for neighbors in the afternoon. Playing the violin was the most important part of his life.
In 1939, he joined the British Army as an officer and due to the fact that he spoke 11 languages fluently, he became the personal translator of Field Marshal Montgomery. He served in the headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, in the major attacks in Benghazi, Tubrok, El Alamein and all around the Middle East.
He ended the war as a major and worked for a British company. All along playing his violin in cafes and every occasion possible.
After the establishment of the state of Israel, he worked for the electric company and still continued to play in weddings and cafes.
Saturday mornings were dedicated to musical concerts in our home, and I remember my father playing the trumpet in the fire brigade orchestra of Ramat Gan, every Saturday afternoon in different parks.
His violin was his cherished and closest friend.
After my father passed, we sold the violin to the Weinsteins to be a pest of the Violins of Hope collection.
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