Violins of Hope - Lou Ann Lindblade

Tune into Faith in Action at 9 a.m., Monday, April 13 on Channel 88.1 FM, Siouxland Catholic Radio. Host Tony Michaels interviews Tolerance Alliance Director Lou Ann Lindblade about Violins of Hope, a collection of about 70 restored instruments played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, which will be in Sioux City, April 13-29. This program replays at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18. Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center. Previous Faith in Action programs can be found at siouxlandcatholicradio.com, on YouTube, and on several other podcasting platforms. Programming is subject to change.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome into a special edition of Faith in Action right here on Sioux Land Catholic Radio 88.1 FM. My name is Tony Michaels, filling in for Joanne Fox, who will be back with us with new episodes of Faith in Action coming up soon. So keep listening for that. Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center, right here in Sioux City. They've been a longtime sponsor of Faith in Action. Right now, it is my distinct honor to welcome in on the phone line Luann Limblade, who joins us to talk about uh not only Tolerance Week, but also Violins of Hope. And this is uh absolutely fantastic and just a very impressive event that'll be taking place here in Sioux City in uh the coming time here. So, Luann, welcome and uh good morning here on Faith in Action.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Thank you, Tony. It's great to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Luann, I've always been a big fan, of course. Uh, you do great work here in the Sioux Land community. For those that uh don't know much about Tolerance Week, kind of give us a quick uh recap of uh the origin of Tolerance Week here in Sioux City and uh some of the uh past events that have taken place.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Sure. Um in 2005, believe it or not, we started uh bringing Holocaust educators to Sioux City to visit, um to present, I should say, to eighth grade students. We bring between 1,500 and 2,000 eighth graders to the Orpheum Theater on a Wednesday morning in April and have had uh Holocaust survivors, films, plays, all kinds of events that uh that help kids understand the events of the Holocaust and more broad, broadly, things like bullying and um standing up for what's right and all kinds of things that we think young people need to hear. Um Jerry Weiner and his wife Kathy are the main sponsors of Tolerance Week. They met a Holocaust survivor in Florida 21 years ago and saw a film called Paperclips and decided that they should bring it to Sioux City. The rest is history, and there have been hundreds of thousands of uh people who have been impacted by Tolerance Week, especially after the Holocaust Rails exhibit opened in 2023.

SPEAKER_00 2:21

So since uh origin dating back to 2005 here in Sioux City, obviously it's hard to believe that uh 21 years has uh have passed with this, and uh obviously it's added a lot of uh knowledge to the Siouxland area uh about Tolerance Week. Uh from a personal perspective, why does this mean so much to you, Luann?

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Well, I think that there's a there's a small uh Jewish community here and and unfortunately getting smaller every year. And um I I think that we just owe it to the community to provide this education to students. Um now it's become something that the teachers and the the curriculum people depend on. Um we have kids not only from Sioux City, we have the parochial schools in Sioux City, usually Sioux Land Christian and the Bishop Healing schools participate. Sgt. Bluff, South Sioux, Dakota Valley, Hinton, um, and and many other small schools have been uh participating for for many years. And it's just it's really it's something that gives me a great sense of satisfaction when I see these kids. Many of them are seeing the Orpheum Theater for the first time, which is kind of interesting. So they're a little bit uh in awe as they enter the theater if they've never been there before. And it's it's always a there's always a free public event that goes along with the student event. And a few years ago, we showed a documentary called Violence of Hope, and it was a PBS show, it was about an hour long, and we showed it during Tolerance Week about eight years ago, and kind of that started percolating. That idea of bringing violence of hope to Sioux City started percolating, and it then unfortunately we had COVID and a few other things that came of came along, and this year the stars aligned, and we are partnering with the Jewish federations of Davenport and Des Moines to bring violence of hope to Iowa. So there's events all across Iowa. Um, the violins arrived February 15th, and they'll be here until the end of April. So there have been events all across Iowa, so it's it's a major exciting thing to that has happened and fallen into place here.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

And of course, Violins of Hope, you've uh partnered with the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra. This is free to the public. And tell us about the event. Uh, I know there's uh several different events uh throughout that week, but tell us about the event specifically at the Orphean Theater on Wednesday, April 22nd at 7:30.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

Okay, that will be a concert, um, a strings concert by Sioux City Symphony um musicians. They will be playing um instruments from the violins of Hope collection. And that is a group of instruments that was actually rescued, we should say, from the Holocaust people who did not survive, or people who were taking their violins with them on the train, um, not knowing where they were going. Um, we have one violin that will be displayed at the Holocaust Rails exhibit that was documented as having been thrown from a train on the way to Auschwitz. Um the musician realized that he wouldn't not be needing the violin anymore, and he tossed it out of the window of the of the car so that somebody else could possibly have an opportunity to play. So all these violins have stories. Um and it's like we're we're honoring the people who owned them by allowing them to play and provide beautiful music again.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Well, when you think about the the history of that violin and how uh something that chair inspired so many uh decades ago and then is being used in this purpose. I mean, that that kind of sends chills uh you know down my spine a little bit. Just the to think that uh that impact of something uh back then is still very much real. And and I assume that that's probably why you're so involved is that you have to tell these stories and you have to tell the history, especially to uh I I suppose not only uh students, but also uh the general population in the Siouxland area. It's important that we keep telling those stories, right, Luann?

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Absolutely. And and we're happy to it makes me feel like kids now have a chance to sort of share the experience with their parents if they come to the Orpheum Theater on Wednesday evening. Um there will be a a student, sort of a student version of the same concert. But the other interesting thing is that there are going to be student musicians from the youth orchestra that are gonna be playing alongside the symphony musicians. It's uh anytime you can involve kids um in your event, I think it's it's good for everybody. Um we we're grateful to um our we have had some grant um funding that has come to us for violence of hope from the humanities, humanities Iowa, the Gilcrest Foundation, and the Kind World Foundation. So we're very grateful for that support and also uh some private donations and then the the benef the donors to the Tolerance Alliance project, which you know has done the Holocaust Trails exhibit and other other projects for students each year.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

So when you were watching the documentary about uh violins of hope, uh did it register in your somewhere in the back of your mind that wow, this would be great if we could get uh part of this exhibit come to Sioux City sometime. That had to be a dream that was in the back of your mind. And now to see it come to fruition is it's got to be very heartwarming.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

It really is. Um, and the that documentary um is available at um PBS.org. So you can go there um and watch the and I I would highly recommend anybody that's planning on coming to the concert or would see if they see if they're interested to watch that documentary and get schooled as to the history of the pieces and kind of how the project all came together. Um, there's a website, Violence of Hope Iowa, that has coverage of all the events across the state and a link to the documentary on PBS. So that's a great resource for anyone who's interested.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Perfect. Let me see if I get this right. Uh, once again, you're joined by Luann uh Lindblade here with uh Violins of Hope, uh part of Tolerance Week here on Faith in Action here on Sioux Land Catholic Radio. See if I get this right. So uh a musical witness to history is taking place in a lot of schools. That's going on April 13th through the 29th, and that's classroom uh discussions, which I think is so important uh that we have these discussions in our school. Is that correct, Luann?

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Yes, and these we are targeting sixth and seventh graders for the in-school visits, and there'll be several musicians from the symphony bringing the violins of hope into the schools and allowing the students to see them up close and personal and learn their stories. And um, so those are those are gonna be events that I think all the students will certainly never forget. And then for for the eighth grade students, they'll go to the the theater and hear the hear the concert on Wednesday morning, the 22nd of April. Um, we have one additional event on the 26rd of April, the next day, a Thursday, we are having a string quartet playing the violins of hope instruments outside the Holocaust Rails exhibit at the Sioux City Railroad Museum, which should be very moving. I think just the if you and also if you haven't been to the Holocaust Rails exhibit, it's really time to think about going. The public is invited now weekends till the end of the school year. So Saturdays and Sundays in April and May. Saturday hours are 10 to 4, Sunday hours are noon to four, and then as soon as school's out, beginning the first week in June, the exhibit will be open Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 10 to 4, and Sunday, noon to 4. And if you come out for the 6:30 event on the 23rd, you'll be able to um spend a little time in the exhibit before the concert starts. So I would highly recommend that now that is a limited seating at the Holocaust Rails exhibit. Um so and there's no RSVP. Um so if you come early to get a seat, that's that's what I would recommend.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

And I know at that event, I believe uh Sioux City uh Symphony Orchestra music director Ryan Haskins will kind of guide the the audience through some reflection and a program as well at that time.

SPEAKER_01 11:43

Right, right. And he'll do the same for the symphony concert. Um that's Ryan's uh best at storytelling and you know weaving the music history together with other history. And yeah, Ryan is is very well versed in the Holocaust and has been to almost every uh monument and camp in Europe through the last uh 10 or 15 years. So he's it's really a delight to listen to his program.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

And obviously, Ryan Haskins uh 100% fully invested in this project. And it must be nice that you have that uh type of passionate individual that feels so strongly, much like you and those others involved with Tolerance Week.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, and Ryan has been a part of Tolerance Week um many times throughout the 21 years, um, because a lot of times music um is you know related to what we're doing, and so he's been a willing participant in many, many different years. So we're very grateful for that um involvement and and like you said, that passion that he has.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

So if we go in the way back machine, uh back to say 2003, 2004, as you're building up support for Tolerance Week and some of the activities, uh, as we look back on 21 years, what has changed in the Sioux Line community? Do you think there's there's more education about Tolerance Week and about uh um some of the education that's taken place over the last couple of decades? And obviously, there's probably going to be a lot more education on the horizon, too.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Well, you know, we always wondered if we were making a difference by you know hosting the events of Tolerance Week. And I I believe we we definitely have, but as you as you know, the world has not um it's like the world forgot that they said never again. Um there's things going on that make you wonder. And you know, kids and bullying and all kinds of things that are happening. It just it it it points to the fact that we need to continue this type of education and um school our our students on you know standing up for what's right and never ever letting bad things happen. Um not turning not turning away if they see something happening. Um don't be a bystander is what Philip Gans used to say. He's a Holocaust survivor that came to Sioux City for many years and talked to the students who would say, Don't be a bystander. Um so stand up to if you see something happening, stand up. And that's the that's what kids need to learn to do. Hopefully it all helps, and maybe someday there won't be such a necessity for I was one of the states, interestingly enough, that has recently passed a law that requires Holocaust education in the schools.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Oh really?

SPEAKER_01 14:49

So yeah, it's one of I think 24 states that requires Holocaust education, which makes which makes me feel good. And um I serve on a statewide committee for Holocaust educators, and so there's a we're actually even having a Holocaust teacher education at the Holocaust Rails exhibit this summer. So it all sort of is a little more far-reaching than just Sioux City at some point. So that's good.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

For those that haven't been to the Holocaust uh rails exhibit at the Sioux City Railroad Museum, uh if you could kind of paint a picture of what they might experience not only during this time with Violins of Hope and some of the special programming, but just throughout the calendar year, what they can expect there at the exhibit.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Well, it's actually hard to explain, but you're you sort of get this feeling when you walk in that you're being transported a little bit. There is um footage from black and white footage that was shot um during the 1940s that's playing on the wall kind of events leading up to World War II. Um, there's a whole area that discusses crystall knocked and the the early Jews not being allowed to own businesses and all of the persecution that led up to and then being forced to live in ghettos. And and then there's a rail car, so you enter the rail car, which kind of gives you a little hair standing up on the back of your head. Also, um, the rail car represents the transportation of Jews from the ghettos and other areas to the work work andor death camps. There are footprints projected on the floor that represent the number of people that were probably in that rail car. And you hear in each area there are video monitors that have testimony from survivors. Um, in the rail car, they talk about their experience of being transported by train. Um, when you leave the train, the first exhibit is arrival at camp, and you learn about what happened when people um departed the trains. Um, the next exhibit is life in the camp. And you know, many prisoners that weren't killed immediately were um used in medical experiments or you know, worked to death. They some got tattoos and they were had their hair shaved and were given uniforms. And then we actually talk about Vernon Todd, who is a local Sioux City uh veteran who took pictures when his unit uh liberated a camp in Aalen, Germany, and he became known as the Angel of Allem. He took photographs um kind of on the fly. He wasn't supposed to have a camera, he wasn't supposed to take pictures, but he could not believe uh the devastation that they encountered when they liberated this camp. So 40 years later, in his GI newsletter, there was a note from a survivor that said, Could the GI who took pictures of me on April 15th, 1945, please get in touch with me? And Vernon thought, boy, I bet that was me. And he went to the basement and got his shoebox full of pictures that he had forgotten about for 40 years and spent the rest of his life trying to identify those people and bring them together. Um so it he really was uh an angel, and that's our Sioux City story. So um that was that there was a documentary done about Vernon by the Documentary Institute of the University of Florida, and it premiered in Sioux City during Tolerance Week in 2007. So that was a pretty spectacular event.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

When it comes to Tolerance Week, uh I assume a lot of local individuals are involved with some of the programming and events that takes place. Uh is this something that's a year-round planning event for you there, Luann?

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Well, we know we're gonna have uh some events every year in April. And so right now we're actually thinking, of course, you might expect we're thinking about next year. Um, but it it's not, I wouldn't call it a year-round. Um, our year-round focus now is Holocaust rails. And that's what the nice thing about that, it brought it it extended the events from a few days in April to um most of the year. The railroad museum doesn't have heat or air conditioning. Uh, so we don't we aren't open during December to February. That's it's kind of too bad because those are some prime field trip months, but we uh schedule a lot of field trips in the fall and in April and May for students, and then we have bus trips for adult groups, it seems like all year long, and we can we can schedule special field trips just about any time. So if you have a group, and even if it's not a Thursday through Sunday during the summer, if you want to bring people out, we're happy to do it Monday through Wednesday anytime we can. As long as you call ahead, we can make that happen.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

So And if you're just joining us here on Faith in Action on Sioux Lang Catholic Radio, Sioux City Symphony presents an evening of memory, music, and remembrance, violins of hope. That's Wednesday, April 22nd. Starts at 7:30 at the Orpheum. And this is a free event, right, Luann?

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Yes, absolutely. Free event.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

And that's open to the public once again Wednesday night, April 22nd. And uh that is uh uh we'd like to know how many people are coming for the music in the shadow of the rails coming up that next day on Thursday, April 23rd. And so how do they get uh more information on that? Uh how do they get involved and reserve a spot?

SPEAKER_01 21:08

There's I'm sorry to say there's no way to reserve a spot. So it's gonna have um seating for about a hundred. So the a hundred people will get chairs and the rest will stand and listen to this beautiful concert um and hopefully walk through the Holocaust Reals exhibit.

SPEAKER_00 21:26

A lot of people stand for sporting events, Luann. I think this is well worth the standing. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

I agree, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

It's all part of Tolerance Week once again, uh, very special to so many here in the Siouxland area, and uh really that education piece for our youngsters, what sixth and seventh grade, and then the eighth grade educational concert will take place on the the Wednesday morning of the 22nd at about 9 30, there at the Orpheum, too. So it's uh nice encompassing all the way from uh children through adults, and uh obviously over 21 years, I I Feel as though we've learned a lot, but there's a lot more education that needs to take place out there in the Siouxland area. That's right. Is there a place, a landing spot we can go to and find out some more information? You told us about the PBS um site where we can get uh violins of hope and uh find out uh how to watch that before maybe going to the event. But uh if you want to find out more about Tolerance Week, well, where can you go, Luann?

SPEAKER_01 22:22

You can look go to thetolerancealliance.org. After we uh opened up the Holocaust Rails exhibit, we decided to change our name from Tolerance Week to the Tolerance Alliance because we because of the the more year-round efforts. So tolerancealliance.org, there's more information about the events of Tolerance Week and the origin and some photos from years we years past. We also have art and essay contests for the uh middle school kids, and those um winners are are on the website.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

So that's great.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

It's worth a lot.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

ToleranceAliance.org. I know uh not completely uh tied in at all, but uh we just had World Autism Day. It was on April 2nd, and so a lot of people reach out to me because I have a uh young adult son who uh has autism. Like, well, you know, it's important that we have autism awareness and and and that's good, but for those that live it, it's really an everyday type of event, and that it's kind of the same thing. So I can see why you would change it from Tolerance Week to Tolerance Alliance because this is something that is uh ever present in your life. It's not like we can uh shake a wand and and get rid of autism, and we don't want to shake a wand and and for uh forget about the history and uh what transpired. And uh, like you said, it factors into bullying and uh so many other ills, and especially if you want to factor in uh some of the ills that take place on social media and online. Uh the message has never been so important that it is right now.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Tony. This was a wonderful opportunity to help spread the word about our events and tolerance week. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

You bet. I know Joanne Fox, when she heard about violence, a hope, she got a hold of me within like three seconds and said, we have got to find out more about this and get this on Sioux Lan Catholic Radio. So, tip of the hat to Joanne Fox. I know a good friend of mine, Kelly Erickson, has been uh very passionate about this project uh throughout the years as well.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Kelly's on our board of directors and well, Luann, thanks once again for your time and uh keep up the great work with uh the Tolerance Alliance and of course Tolerance Week as well.

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Okay, thank you so much.