A secret note hidden in Dachau-built ‘Violin of Hope’ tells a tale of survival and craftsmanship

BUDAPEST Hungary AP During World War II within the walls of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau a Jewish prisoner secretly penned a short note and hid it inside a violin he had crafted under harrowing circumstances a message to the future that would remain undiscovered for more than years Trial instrument made under hard conditions with no tools and materials the worn note read Dachau Anno Franciszek Kempa The origins of the violin built in by Franciszek Franz Kempa while imprisoned by the Nazis at Dachau in southern Germany remained unnoticed for decades It wasn t until art dealers in Hungary sent the instrument out for repairs after having stored it for years among a set of purchased furniture that its history came to light Although the instrument s craftsmanship pointed clearly to a skilled maker the professional repairing it was puzzled by the poor quality of the wood and the crude tools used to create it which didn t match the evident skill involved If you look at its proportions and structure you can see that it s a master violin made by a man who was proficient in his craft commented Szandra Katona one of the Hungarian art dealers who discovered the origins of the violin But the choice of wood was comprehensively incomprehensible Motivated by the contradiction the professional disassembled the violin revealing Kempa s hidden note an apparent explanation even an apology from a master violin maker forced by the brutal limitations of his captivity to build an instrument that fell short of his own standards Dachau located near Munich was the first concentration camp established by the Nazis in March It initially housed political prisoners but later became a model for other camps imprisoning Jews Roma clergy homosexuals and others targeted by the Nazi regime Over time it became a site of forced labor biological experiments and brutal punishment and remained in operation until it was liberated by American forces on April At least people are supposed to have died there due to starvation affection execution or mistreatment There is ample evidence that musical instruments were present in concentration camps across Central and Eastern Europe during World War II For propaganda purposes the Nazis often permitted or even encouraged the formation of musical groups to give a false impression to the outside world about life in the camps However all known instruments that survived Dachau are considered to have been brought in by prisoners Kempa s violin of hope as it has come to be called is the only known instrument indeed built inside the camp It is unknown how the violin left Dachau and ultimately made its way to Hungary But Kempa according to documents provided to the Hungarian art dealers by the museum at the Dachau memorial site survived the war and returned to his native Poland to continue making instruments before dying in The documents also suggest that Kempa was known to the Nazis as an instrument maker something Tam s T losi one of the art dealers believes may have spared him the fate of millions of others that perished in the camps We named it the violin of hope because if someone ends up in a laborious situation having a task or a challenge helps them get through a lot of things T losi announced You focus not on the concern but on the task itself and I think this helped the maker of this instrument to survive the concentration camp Source