Boy with a Violin: A Story of Survival

335 Pages·2022·2.975 MB·English

by  Yochanan Fein

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
n June 22, 1941, the German inva- in the midst of a complex political
O
sion of the Soviet Union began. In climate, culminating in his daring
FEIN Y O C H A N A N F E I N
a matter of days, the war reached the escape from Soviet Lithuania.
suburbs of Kaunas, Lithuania, where a
•
young Jewish violinist, Yochanan Fein, In one of the darkest eras of human
had a happy childhood. On June 22, history, there were those who proved
1941, that childhood ended. that the goodness of the human spirit
survives against all odds. Boy with a
In Boy with a Violin, Fein recounts Violin pays tribute to those who risked B
his early life under Nazi occupation— everything to save a life, and whose
his survival in the Kaunas Ghetto, the altruism crossed the boundaries of O
separation from his parents, his nar- race and religion. In this fi rst English
row escapes from death at the hands translation of Boy with a Violin, Fein Y
of Nazi offi cers, the harrowing stories continues to off er his testimony to
of those he knew who did not survive, the strength of the human spirit.
W
and the abhorrent conditions he
endured while in hiding. He tells the
tale of his rescuer, Jonas Paulavičius,
I
the Lithuanian carpenter who sought
T
to save the Jewish spirit. Paulavičius
rescued those he believed could
H
rebuild in the wake of the Holocaust,
hiding engineers and doctors in his

underground Noah’s Ark. Among Born in 1929 in Lithuania, Yochanan A
the sixteen he saved stood one Fein was just a boy when he was
fourteen-year-old violinist. forced into the Kaunus Ghetto and
V
his parents were taken from him.
Following liberation, Fein describes Following liberation, Yochanan
I B OY
the aft ermath of the war as survivors fl ed Soviet Lithuania in secrecy. He
O
returned to what was left of their immigrated to Israel in 1950, where
homes and attempted to piece together he joined the Kibbutz movement and
L
the fragmented remains of their lives. married his late wife, Nurit. Yochanan
with a
He recounts the diffi culties of return- lives in Holon, Israel, and has two
I
ing to some semblance of normal life children and six grandchildren.
N
VV II OO LL II NN
iupress.org $20.00
Cover illustration: Yochanan Fein
photographed in the garden of his ISBN 9780253060594
52000 >
home aft er his liberation, 1945.
A Story of Survival

9 780253 060594 PRESS
BBooyy wwiitthh aa VViioolliinn__MMEECCHH__PPBB..iinndddd 11 11//2266//2222 11::4455 PPMM
Advance Praise for Boy with a Violin
“Boy with a Violin captivated me with the intimate, humanistic
writing that was evident on every page, in every line. A true
writer, his writing is direct and succinct, and skillfully conveys
his deep understanding of that era of our history, and of the
nature of humankind. As Yochanan describes the indescribable—
the tale of his miraculous survival—the story progresses from
a testimony that is both chilling and deeply moving, to a fine
work of literature that will touch the heart of any reader.”
—Haim Be’er, Israeli novelist
(translated from Hebrew to English)
“Such stories have been told before: a Jewish boy, a violin, the
pounding of boots, death and grief. Yet this book overwhelmed
me. I was swept away, so much so that as I read this book on
the train, I was so immersed that I missed my destination.”
—John Janes Van Galen, literary critic
Het Parool (Amsterdam), 12/7/2006
(translated from Dutch to Hebrew to English)
“The heroes of Fein’s story are individualists who fought for
their lives under impossible circumstances and overcame,
illuminating the darkness of those days. . . . The story is not
told through the eyes of the young man in the story, but
through the context of his accumulated life experience.”
—Prof. Matityahu Mintz,
Professor Emeritus of History at Tel Aviv University
(translated from Hebrew to English)
“As I began to read the manuscript of Boy with a Violin, I could
not put it down. Against the hellscape surrounding him . . . the
book has a breath of optimism, a belief in the future of mankind
as a unique creature: capable of committing atrocities, but also of
creating wonders. . . . This book must be published: to show the
reasons why man can rise from the ashes, and continue to live.”
—Prof. Menachem Brinker,
literary scholar and philosopher, Israel Prize laureate, and peace
activist; Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Henry Crown Professor of Modern
Hebrew Language and Literature at the University of Chicago
(translated from Hebrew to English)
BOY WITH A VIOLIN

YO C H A N A N F E I N
Translated by Penina Reichenberg
OY
B
with a
IOLIN
V
A Story of Survival
Indiana University Press
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana
47405 USA
iupress.org
© 2022 by Yochanan Fein
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and
without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper
used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standard for Information Sciences—
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
First printing 2022
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-06056-3 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-253-06059-4 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-253-06057-0 (ebook)
Frontis: The boy, Yochanan Fein, photographed in the
garden of his home after his liberation, 1945.
English editing by Padraic Carlin
In memory of my father,
Menachem (Mendel),
and my brother,
Zvi (Hirsch’ke),
who were killed in the Holocaust, to
the Paulavičius family,
my saviors,
and to my beloved wife,
Nurit (Irka),
who passed away on September 26, 2020.

“The officer ordered the soldier to return the violin, and
to test whether my father was telling the truth, he ordered
me to play. I stood in the middle of the yard, and as the
soldiers dragged, packed, and destroyed our property,
I played with tears running down my cheeks.”