24 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2019

Jews in the D

W

hile nearly 80 years
have passed since
the infamous Nazi
“lagers” were closed, dozens
of musical instruments used
there by the inmate musicians
still survive. People have the
chance to see 50 of
these instruments —
mostly violins —
that survived the
death camps, as well
as Torahs and other
artifacts of Jewish
life on an upcoming
Step On Bus Tours
to Fort Wayne, Ind.,
Nov. 20, co-spon-
sored by the Jewish
Federation of Fort
Wayne.
The tour begins at St.
Francis University, where
docents will tell the stories of
the violins and the people who
played them — a presenta-
tion called “Violins of Hope,”
inspired by the book of the
same name by James Grymes.
That was also the inspi-
ration that moved Amnon
Weinstein, a talented crafts-
man joined later by his son,
in their years-long scouring of
the camps and ruins, looking
for instruments.
One of the violins they
found was built in Bohemia,
Moravia, in the 1700s
although it may have hailed
from a different place than
where they found it.
Over the years, the
Weinsteins applied their

woodworking talents to the
instruments under their care.
Today, the instruments glisten
in their honored spaces in the
“Violins of Hope” gallery.
Next on the tour, travel-
ers will visit the sanctuary
at Congregation
Achduth Vesholom.
There, Rabbi Paula
Jayne will discuss
their collection of
Torah scrolls, once
the proud possession
of synagogues, but
later stolen by the
Nazis, intended for
Hitler’
s never-com-
pleted “Museum of
the Extinct Race.”
Some are described as
“orphan scrolls.” Scroll No.
1172 is some 250 years old
and is on permanent loan
from London’
s Westminster
Synagogue.
Travelers will enjoy a small
boxed meal en route to Ft.
Wayne and then a meal after
the presentation at the temple.
The tour is $88 per person,
leaves at 7 a.m. and returns at
7 p.m. Travelers can be picked
up at either Eddie Edgar Ice
Arena at I-96 and Farmington
Road or Tel-12 Mall, 12
Mile and Telegraph Road in
Southfield.
Those interested in the trip
must reserve their seats by
calling Step on Bus Tours at
(248) 619-6692 or emailing
steponbustours@gmail.com.
Payment is due by Nov. 18.

Amnon
Weinstein
works on a
violin
. BELOW:
A German
Star of
David violin

COURTESY STEP ON BUS TOURS

Violins of Hope
See instruments that survived the death
camps on a bus tour to Fort Wayne, Ind.

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