JHV 89 The Paul Leeser Violin

Paul Leeser and Friends, Kassel, Germany, Yom Kippur 1945

This violin belonged to Paul Leeser, who immigrated to the US with his family in 1937 as conditions for Jewish people were deteriorating in Germany. After arriving, Leeser’s career took a turn, and he trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Cincinnati before eventually enlisting in the U.S. Armed Forces. His knowledge of German landed him behind enemy lines near the end of the war. According to his daughter, the violin was not played by Leeser much, if at all, after that experience.