broke out on the island. The refugees were quarantined and their departure was canceled.
They would not get under way until August 11, 1945. By this time, World War II had ended and the Jews had learned of the horrible genocide that had claimed the lives of countless relatives and friends they had left behind in Europe. Out of the 1,581 Jewish refugees who had been on board the Atlantic , 1,307 were still living on Mauritius in 1945. In addition to those who had died, several dozen emigrants had left to fight in the war. The remaining refugees joined several hundred British soldiers who were returning from India aboard the RMS Franconia .
Israel
On August 26, 1945, almost six years after leaving Vienna for Palestine, the refugees returned to Haifa. This time they would bypass Atlit and proceed directly to their predetermined housing arrangements. Some would stay with family members who were already in Palestine or would settle into one of the collective agricultural communities. About four hundred of them would move into houses that had been built for them in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and the northern coastal city of Nahariya. A few dozen who had opted to return to Europe were taken to a transit camp south of Gaza.
Erich was among the immigrants who settled in Nahariya. He renewed his career as a butcher, but still continued to play the violin that had accompanied him on his astonishing odyssey from Vienna to Dachau and Buchenwald, from Bratislava to Palestine and then Mauritius, and finally back to Palestine. He would often invite a pianist and a drummer he had met in Nahariya over to his home for intimate evenings of playing traditional Austrian folk music and waltzes.
Erich returned to Austria a few times for brief visits. He gave serious consideration to murdering the former friend who had informed on his father, but was talked out of it. âDonât do it,â Erichâs friends pleaded with him. âTheyâll throw you in jail for the rest of your life. Youâve already spent enough time in prison.â 35
Erich died in 1988, at the age of seventy-six. His violin was passed down to his son Zeâev, who lived in Germany, and his daughter Tova, who still lived in Israel. It stayed with Tova until 2012, when she started considering selling it. Her son took the violin to Tel Aviv to see how much the instrument was worth. He quickly learned that there was only one person who could appraise it: Amnon Weinstein. The violin was damaged from being played outside in Mauritiusâs tropical heat and had little monetary value, but Amnon immediately recognized the instrumentâs historical significance. He agreed to restore the violin for free. All he asked in return was permission to maintain Erich Weiningerâs Violin as one of the Violins of Hope.
3
THE AUSCHWITZ VIOLIN
        An SS photograph of the Auschwitz Main Camp Orchestra in the spring of 1941. (From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the Institute of National Remembrance, Poland.)
Â
Â
G ünther and Rosemarie Goldschmidt, the performers who founded the Palestine Orchestra, and Erich Weininger were among the last Jews to leave Nazi Germany. The country sealed its borders on October 23, 1941, prohibiting any other Jews from emigrating. Shortly thereafter, the Nazis began transporting Jews to camps designed not just to incarcerate and torment Jews, but to kill them by the thousands.
One of the musicians who suffered from this persecution was Henry Meyer. Henry was born in 1923 into an affluent and musical family of Jewish merchants in the culturally rich city of Dresden, Germany. He received his first violin at the age of five and began taking lessons with one of the best violin teachers in the city. He quickly established himself as a child prodigy by playing chamber music alongside his accomplished parents as well as professional musicians.
Henryâs idyllic childhood ended when
They would not get under way until August 11, 1945. By this time, World War II had ended and the Jews had learned of the horrible genocide that had claimed the lives of countless relatives and friends they had left behind in Europe. Out of the 1,581 Jewish refugees who had been on board the Atlantic , 1,307 were still living on Mauritius in 1945. In addition to those who had died, several dozen emigrants had left to fight in the war. The remaining refugees joined several hundred British soldiers who were returning from India aboard the RMS Franconia .
Israel
On August 26, 1945, almost six years after leaving Vienna for Palestine, the refugees returned to Haifa. This time they would bypass Atlit and proceed directly to their predetermined housing arrangements. Some would stay with family members who were already in Palestine or would settle into one of the collective agricultural communities. About four hundred of them would move into houses that had been built for them in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and the northern coastal city of Nahariya. A few dozen who had opted to return to Europe were taken to a transit camp south of Gaza.
Erich was among the immigrants who settled in Nahariya. He renewed his career as a butcher, but still continued to play the violin that had accompanied him on his astonishing odyssey from Vienna to Dachau and Buchenwald, from Bratislava to Palestine and then Mauritius, and finally back to Palestine. He would often invite a pianist and a drummer he had met in Nahariya over to his home for intimate evenings of playing traditional Austrian folk music and waltzes.
Erich returned to Austria a few times for brief visits. He gave serious consideration to murdering the former friend who had informed on his father, but was talked out of it. âDonât do it,â Erichâs friends pleaded with him. âTheyâll throw you in jail for the rest of your life. Youâve already spent enough time in prison.â 35
Erich died in 1988, at the age of seventy-six. His violin was passed down to his son Zeâev, who lived in Germany, and his daughter Tova, who still lived in Israel. It stayed with Tova until 2012, when she started considering selling it. Her son took the violin to Tel Aviv to see how much the instrument was worth. He quickly learned that there was only one person who could appraise it: Amnon Weinstein. The violin was damaged from being played outside in Mauritiusâs tropical heat and had little monetary value, but Amnon immediately recognized the instrumentâs historical significance. He agreed to restore the violin for free. All he asked in return was permission to maintain Erich Weiningerâs Violin as one of the Violins of Hope.
3
THE AUSCHWITZ VIOLIN
        An SS photograph of the Auschwitz Main Camp Orchestra in the spring of 1941. (From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the Institute of National Remembrance, Poland.)
Â
Â
G ünther and Rosemarie Goldschmidt, the performers who founded the Palestine Orchestra, and Erich Weininger were among the last Jews to leave Nazi Germany. The country sealed its borders on October 23, 1941, prohibiting any other Jews from emigrating. Shortly thereafter, the Nazis began transporting Jews to camps designed not just to incarcerate and torment Jews, but to kill them by the thousands.
One of the musicians who suffered from this persecution was Henry Meyer. Henry was born in 1923 into an affluent and musical family of Jewish merchants in the culturally rich city of Dresden, Germany. He received his first violin at the age of five and began taking lessons with one of the best violin teachers in the city. He quickly established himself as a child prodigy by playing chamber music alongside his accomplished parents as well as professional musicians.
Henryâs idyllic childhood ended when
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