Broken Instruments

Over twenty years, father and son Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein restored musical instruments - mainly violins - belonging to Jewish people who lived through the Holocaust. 

These instruments have been used in concerts given by orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic. They say, ‘Our violins present the victory of the human spirit over evil and hatred. Six million Jews were murdered in World War Two, but their memory is not forgotten. It comes back to life with every concert.’ 


During lockdown, a musical has been written telling their story - Broken Instruments. Released today, the title song tells of the power of music, and particularly of the violin 

The violin, or so they say,
Can sound just like the human voice,
And in some way I can’t explain
Can somehow play our heartstrings 
Make sense of these things,
And feel your pain.
I’ve heard it said that when you play
A part of heaven can come down
And through a melody just say
All you never could do
All you ever wanted to say to me.
Broken instruments can be mended then
They can play again once more
And the song that lurks somewhere way back when
Will return to you for sure.


And so today’s Blip is of my husband playing the theme from Schindler’s List - a haunting and emotional link. I consider posting the photo in mono, but decide I’d rather have a more positive, life-affirming image of hope.