March 4, 2025 // Diocese

‘Violins and Hope’ Aims to Connect Catholic, Jewish Communities

Scott Warden

Editor-In-Chief

Nearly 40 years ago, in the spring of 1986, Pope St. John Paul II made a historic trip across the Tiber River to visit Rome’s Great Synagogue – the first recorded papal visit to a Jewish temple. With thousands of Romans gathered outside of what is thought to be the oldest synagogue in the West, and another 1,000 Jewish faithful inside, John Paul II further built upon the Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, as he gave a historic speech on the relationship between Catholics and Jews.

“The Jewish religion is not extrinsic to us, but in a certain way is intrinsic to our own religion,” he said, “With Judaism, therefore, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers, and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.’’

Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis have continued to nurture the Church’s relationship with our Jewish brothers and sisters, each having visited Rome’s Great Synagogue during their pontificates and stressed the Church’s closeness with our “elder brothers” in faith.

Throughout two weeks of March, Catholics in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend will have the opportunity to express solidarity with our Jewish neighbors and learn more about their heritage – and the horrors their ancestors faced during World War II – through a series of events centered around the organization Violins of Hope, founded by Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein, who spent the last three decades of his life locating and restoring violins that were played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust.

From Tuesday, March 11, through Sunday, March 23, the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne and the Pearl Street Arts Center have planned a photographic exhibit at the University of Saint Francis entitled “Violins and Hope: From the Holocaust to Symphony Hall.” The exhibit features 43 photos of the violins and the workshop of Weinstein. Created by Cleveland photographer Daniel Levin, the exhibition is on display at the Rolland Art Center at the University of Saint Francis.

According to officials who helped to plan the events, the exhibition is being supported by a two-week commemoration of concerts, documentary film screenings, and events at various Fort Wayne locations relating to music and the Holocaust. In addition, four historical instruments from the Violins of Hope collection will be on display in the exhibition and performed at events throughout the community.

This isn’t the first visit of Violins of Hope to Fort Wayne. In the fall of 2019, more than 80,000 people attended various events, including more than 1,000 Catholics and Jews who prayed together at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church.

Another Catholic-Jewish prayer service is planned during this month’s festivities. On Thursday, March 20, at 7 p.m., St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Fort Wayne will host a prayer service attended by Bishop Rhoades and Rabbi Meir Bargeron from Fort Wayne’s Congregation Achduth Vesholom, Indiana’s oldest Jewish congregation.

Today’s Catholic spoke to key organizers of the photo exhibit and the series of community events, including
Jim Palmero, the executive director of Pearl Arts; Jaki Schreier, former president of the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne; and Michael Theise, the federation’s current executive director. All three eagerly invited the area’s Catholic community to embrace the call to join their Jewish brothers and sisters to celebrate the history on display at the various Violins and Hope events. They made a special plea for teachers and principals of Catholic schools to bring middle school and high school students to any of the events to learn more about the history of the Jewish people and the atrocities they faced during World War II.

“I think it would be a wonderful learning experience for these students,” Schreier said. “It’s something that they would never forget.”

Educating people of all ages is the mission of Violins of Hope, Theise said.

“I think the overriding message is that there are a lot of people who don’t know about the Holocaust, especially students,” Theise said. “It’s a state mandate that it be taught in Indiana, but it’s not always complied with. So we want to tell the stories. What we have found is the last time we did it is that the stories are the conduit from the concept of the Holocaust to the receiver’s emotional life. When you hear about a specific person who lived at this specific time and went through this specific Holocaust experience, you know that enables you to understand the magnitude of what actually happened – and then you multiply that by millions, 6 million.

“We also found that it really resonated in the non-Jewish community in Fort Wayne,” Theise continued. “People were just fascinated by the topic. Most people didn’t know that most concentration camps had orchestras, and that the concentration camp victims who were playing the instruments got a little more food and didn’t live in as harsh conditions. They were harsh, but not as harsh as the person who was working in the fields. And so, there are 6 million different stories, and these instruments are just a small, small subsection of what happened.

“At the prayer service at St. Vincent, we plan to tell the stories of two people who music played a part in that person’s story. One is from the book ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel. It’s about a young boy named Juliek who played the violin, and it’s about his death. And then the other is about a woman who actually visited Fort Wayne two years ago named Tova Friedman, who as a 3- or 4-year-old, was forced to help carry dead bodies in her town.”

Theise said the March 20 prayer service at St. Vincent “will be one of the highlights of the whole two weeks.” He added, “Having Bishop Rhoades there – the leader of the Catholic Church in the area – present and supporting this event means a lot to all of us.”

Palermo, a Catholic who grew up in Cleveland but has established deep roots in both the Catholic and Jewish communities of Fort Wayne, encouraged Catholics to support the events of Violins and Hope.

“I have a tremendous kinship to the Jewish people,” Palermo said. “We share a heritage. They are the trunk, and we are the branch, right? And so I think that the lessons that we learn through a project like this can help us come to grips with our past, including our failings of the past, when people might have turned a blind eye to what was happening to a people who were being persecuted. … And now Catholics are – and have been – persecuted as well. So, we should feel a kinship to the Jewish people in that kind of struggle in their identity. … So, I think these are incredible stories. They’re human stories, even more than Jewish stories, and they need to be told, they need to be understood. And if we help educate people, especially children, about what happened, they can grow up with a better sense of compassion for their fellow human beings.”

Schreier agreed, saying: “We can’t bring back those people who lost their lives. But we can work hard at making sure that something like this never happens again, and we can remember those souls who perished.”

To learn more, visit violinsandhopefw.org.

Scott Warden is editor-in-chief of Today’s Catholic.

---

VIOLINS AND HOPE SCHEDULE

The following is a selection of events centered around the Violins and Hope exhibit and are free to attend.

Exhibition: “Violins and Hope: Inside Amnon’s Workshop”

When: Tuesday, March 11, through Sunday, March 23

Where: Weatherhead Gallery – Mimi and Ian Rolland Art Center, University of Saint Francis 

The exhibition of author and photographer Daniel Levin’s 43 masterfully printed and framed photographs documents luthier Amnon Weinstein’s collection of violins, his workshop in Tel Aviv, and his processes for restoration. These are beautiful photographic representations of Weinstein’s delicate and enduring violins that have miraculously survived the Holocaust. Trained volunteers will be on site Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5-7 p.m., Saturdays from 10-5 p.m., and Sundays from 1-5 p.m. For more information, visit art.sf.edu.

Official Exhibition Opening Concert and Reception 

When: 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11

Where: Weatherhead Gallery – Mimi and Ian Rolland Art Center, University of Saint Francis

The Bennett String Ensemble will perform a short concert of Jewish and Holocaust era selections on the Violins of Hope. Afterward, those in attendance are encouraged to view the exhibition and enjoy punch and cookies.  

Ariel String Quartet with Fort Wayne Children’s Choir 

When: 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 13

Where: Pearl Street Arts Center, 234 Pearl Street, Fort Wayne

The program opens with the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir joining the Ariel String Quartet in a performance of Srul Irving Glick’s “Psalm Trilogy.” Next, the Ariel performs Erwin Schulhoff’s “String Quartet No. 1 in D Major,” concluding the program with Beethoven’s “String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor, Op. 132.” 

Film: “Saul and Ruby’s Holocaust Survivor Band”

When: 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 15

Where: Pearl Street Arts Center, 234 Pearl Street, Fort Wayne

Holocaust survivors Saul and Ruby moved to America after WWII, started families and careers, grew old, and retired to South Florida. Their klezmer band, the Holocaust Survivor Band, summons memories of their childhoods in Poland in a bittersweet and compelling story about finding purpose in life at any age. Afterward, the film’s director, Tod Lending, discusses his new book, “The Umbrella Maker’s Son,” a powerful, heart-wrenching novel that follows a young Polish Jew through his incredible journey to escape the Nazis.  

Gallery Performance and Talk: Photographer
and Author Daniel Levin   

When: 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 17  

Where: Weatherhead Gallery – Mimi and Ian Rolland Art Center, University of Saint Francis

The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with selections by Jewish and Holocaust era composers performed on the Violins of Hope by the Bennett Strings. At 6:20 p.m., author and photographer Daniel Levin will discuss his exhibition, “Violins and Hope | From the Holocaust to Symphony Hall.” Afterward, those in attendance are encouraged to view the exhibition and enjoy punch and cookies.  

Jewish-Catholic Prayer Service 

When: 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 20

Where: St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 1502 East Wallen Road, Fort Wayne

Rabbi Meir Bargeron from Congregation Achduth Vesholom joins Bishop Rhoades in a prayer service that focuses on the beauty of the psalms, stories of Holocaust survivors, and the religious connections shared and revered by the Jewish people and Christians. Music will feature the St. Vincent Choir, Purdue Fort Wayne University Singers, and a string quartet performing on the Violins of Hope. Selections common to Jewish and Christian faith traditions will be featured.