Tag: <span>Richmond VA</span>

(July 2021) Dr. James A. Grymes, a professor of Music History at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, has brought forth such a well researched and well told story of violins that survived the Holocaust, even when many of their owners did not. It is fascinating and horrifying, an emotional retelling of what happened to violinists – famous and not – during a period in history where Jews were savagely exterminated all over Europe. In some instances, these violins saved their owner’s life and that of their families.

I read this book in preparation for interviewing Dr. Grymes for a show I host called Inside Scoop. The upcoming collaborative exhibition called Violins of Hope is taking place in Richmond, Virginia, from August 4th to October 24th. The violins in this exhibit were played by Jewish musicians in camps and ghettos during the Holocaust and ended up in the hands of Amnon Weinstein of Tel Aviv, a second generation craftsman who repairs violins. The stories of the instruments, their owners and how they came to be in Amnon Weinstein’s shop makes for riveting reading.

There is so much I was not aware of regarding the role that music played during the Holocaust. There were camp orchestras at many concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, where work details left in the morning to the music of the orchestra and returned in the evening greeted by the same music. Providing music for soldiers spared the lives of some musicians who were given extra food or lighter work assignments. Dr. Grymes has focused his book on telling detailed stories of musicians from Germany to Romania, the Ukraine to Norway. There is a great deal of significant history woven into the telling of these very personal accounts. I learned so much.

Bronislaw Huberman, Ernst Glaser and his wife Kari, the boy partisan Motele Schlein, Feivel Wininger and his baby daughter Helen. Their lives mattered and Dr. Grymes has sought out their stories as a way of preserving their memories the way their musical instruments have been lovingly preserved.

Amnon Weinstein lost over 400 members of his family. His parents refused to speak about the loss of their parents, siblings and extended family during the Holocaust. Yet Amnon, who learned violin repair from his father Moshe [who was taught by violin maker Yaakov Zimmerman] finds hope in restoring and sharing these violins. He observed that while Nazis did not survive beyond WWII, these violins have. “These instruments are a testimony from another world.”

Although Nazis did not survive beyond the defeat of Germany, fascism lives on all over the world and is on the rise. For the 15th consecutive year, there has been a decline in global freedom. Teaching history – fully and truthfully – is important in helping each new generation understand we are not immune to the basest, darkest and cruelest instincts of human beings. Evil is never truly eliminated, it is kept at bay, and only the greatest vigilance prevents another Holocaust in a different iteration from happening again.

I highly recommend reading this book and then making plans to visit the Violins of Hope in Richmond Aug. 4th thru Oct. 24th at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, The Virginia Museum of History & Culture and the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia. There will also be a series of concerts in collaboration with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra where these violins will again bring comfort and joy to those fortunate enough to hear them. More information can be found at www.ViolinsofHopeRVA.com

(Nov. 14, 2018) Catherine Read sits down with the Hon. Mary Margaret Whipple, Vice-Chair of the Virginia Women’s Monument Commission. The commission was established back in 2010 to explore the idea of honoring historic women who have many significant contributions to the commonwealth. Over the past 8 years, the commission has come up with a design plan, secured land on the Capitol Grounds, and raised money to finance the monument. “Voices from the Garden” will be the name of the new monument, and it will seek to educate Virginians about women who might not be household names, but have made significant contributions in their lifetimes.

One of the ideas that resonated with the commission was to make the monument something that people could relate to and even interact with. The 12 women who will be honored will be cast in bronze statues that will be standing or sitting on benches in the space. It is meant to imply that these women were regular people who walked amongst us, making their mark in everyday life. They did not want these women to be set up on pedestals. There will be walls surrounding the garden that will tell the amazing stories of each women who is honored, and they will also be adding names to the walls in future years. The one caveat is that people who are honored will need to be deceased for 10 years, in order to ensure that their accomplishments stand the test of time.

Once the design selection was made, the commission focused its attention on choosing the women who would be honored. They worked together with a committee of scholars of Women’s Studies programs throughout the state. It was critical for them to have geographic and ethnic diversity in representation. The women who are being honored are not necessarily household names, but have made significant contributions in our state and throughout society. A complete list of the women can be found on the website.

The commission has raised $3 million of the $3.8 million needed to complete the monument. A small fraction of the money was given by the state, but the balance has been raised through individual donors, foundations, corporations and banks. In order to begin work on the project, they needed to have enough money in the bank to ensure that the project could move forward. The groundbreaking took place on December 4, 2017 and then Gov. Terry McAuliffe attended and gave the keynote address. Production is in place for 4 of the bronze statues, and as money is raised the remaining statues will be put into production. Whipple has a fundraising plan in place to raise the balance of funds by February 2019, so that the dedication can take place as scheduled in October of 2019. She welcomes any donations, large or small, which can be made on the website.