This instrument is a view into the insidious nature of the Nazi movement as it grew in the 1930s. While being repaired in 1936, an unknown repairer added the inscription 2 “Heil Hitler, 1936” next to a large swastika in a place that would only be seen by the next person to open the instrument for repair. Putting such an inscription in a hidden place likely meant that the person who made it privately wanted to insult the instrument’s owner.
When the instrument was next opened, the craftsman decided it should never be played again and donated it in pieces to the Violins of Hope. It is a haunting reminder of the social terror Jewish people faced as the Holocaust began to unfold.