'It's finally at peace': Violin of Holocaust victim to make music once more

A nearly 280-year-old violin is once again making music after its owner was taken from her home and murdered in Auschwitz. Thanks to an act of friendship and bravery, the violin survived and is now being used to share the stories of millions of victims who died in the Holocaust.

The violin belonged to Fanny Hecht, a Jewish woman who lived with her family in an apartment in Amsterdam in 1943.

Fanny became friends with her neighbour Helena Visser, finding their love of the violin in common. The pair would play together, with Helena's daughter, who was only about eight or nine at the time, joining in.

The music came to an abrupt end when Fanny and her family were taken to the concentration camps of Auschwitz and never returned – along with approximately 6 million Jewish people who were murdered in the Holocaust.

Before the Nazis arrested Fanny, she asked her friend to save her cherished violin – an heirloom which was made in 1743.

"She approached Helena and asked Helena if she would care for the violin should they be taken and to return it once they came back, and if that didn't happen then she could keep the violin and take care of it," said Janet Bosse, whose mother-in-law was Helena's daughter.

Honouring one her friend's last wishes, Helena snuck into Fanny's apartment and saved the violin, keeping it safe in hopes of one day returning it to its rightful owner.

It was handed down to Janet Bosse's mother-in-law, who continued the search to return the violin to the Hecht family.

"My mother-in-law has been caring for this violin for many, many years. We've been researching, looking for any family members, long-lost relatives. We've never been able to find any," Bosse said.

Eventually Bosse learned that Fanny had been killed in Asuchewtiz, and the rest of her family murdered by the Nazis.

This left Bosse's family to figure what to do with Fanny's violin.

"It's had a big impact on us because for three generations we've been trying to return it to the Jewish community," she said.

It was by chance that Bosse and her mother-in-law came across Violins of Hope – an organization that preserves the violins of Holocaust victims to ensure they continue to be played.

"She was so thrilled. She said this is where it has to go," Bosse said.

And so she travelled to Israel to hand deliver the precious instrument. Even along the way, Bosse said the violin was impacting people's lives.

"I recall how one flight attendant asked if he could hold the violin. With tears in his eyes, he gently picked up the violin and inhaled its essence. He stroked the violin just as a mother comforts her child, as if to say everything was all right now. We had no idea the impact of our journey."

Now after its decades-long trek, spanning thousands of kilometres around the world, Fanny's violin will make beautiful music once again.

It is set to be featured in a concert by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, creating the same beautiful music that at one time provided a glimmer of hope in dark times.

"This violin, these are the sounds that the owners and the creators heard when they played," said James Manishen, the artistic consultant with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. "They were performed under the most horrific conditions to give people a little bit of hope and to get people to pick up their courage and lift their spirits as it were. And we will be hearing that which the original listeners heard."

Following the concert, Fanny's violin will be put on display in the Holocaust gallery in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, where it will share Fanny's story.

"This is just one little story in over 6 million that nobody knows about and I think it is super important that we bring it to the forefront because we need to never forget the atrocities that happened," Bosse said.

"I think Fanny would be very proud of the turn of events. I almost feel like she had a hand in guiding me to get it to where it needed to be," Bosse said. "It's finally at peace."

Fanny's violin will be on display at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights until March.