Bronislaw Huberman: Founder of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

I recently saw the movie Orchestra of Exiles at one of my Brandeis study groups.  I learned about the Polish violinist, Bronislaw Huberman, a man I had never heard of but one that had a profound effect on thousands of Jews before and during WW11, and left an indelible mark on music in Israel.  Here is some of what I learned from this wonderful and informative film.

Bronislaw Huberman's talent as a violinist was recognized early.  His family had fallen on hard times, so at the young age of 12 Huberman was touring Europe as a solo violinist, supporting his family.  After WW1 Huberman became political, getting involved in the Pan European movement.  Huberman performed all over Europe.  He even performed in Palestine in 1929.  It was around this time that he began to fear the future for Jews, with the rise of Hitler.  He decided to form a symphony orchestra in Palestine, getting the best Jewish talent from Poland, Germany, Austria and several other countries.  Toscanini, the greatest conductor of his time, had refused to perform in Germany, even at the direct request of Hitler.  He was supportive of Huberman's political and cultural desire to both save the lives of talented Jewish musicians, and give to Palestine a world class orchestra.

It took years for Huberman to complete his mission.  In all, he is credited with saving the lives of over 1,000 Jewish men, women and children.  Some of them were musicians, but the others were family members.  He got documents to allow them to get out of Germany and Poland, and travel to Palestine.  No one knows exactly how he was able to do this.  The result was that by 1936 he had a 73 piece orchestra assembled in Palestine, including some of the finest musicians in the world.  Toscanini was there to conduct on opening night, and the orchestra was an instant success.  They toured for the next 10 years throughout the Middle East, and Huberman, one of the finest violinists of his day, rarely performed.  During this time Huberman travelled to America, to perform at Carnegie Hall.  During his time at Carnegie Hall, a thief snuck into his dressing room and stole his Strativarius violin.  This was a devasting blow to Huberman, but he recovered.  His orchestra was  a success, and had saved so many lives.  One condition of each musician that came to Palestine was that they must teach music to the next generation.  They all did, and to this day the Israeli Symphony Orchestra has many children and students of the original orchestra.

In 1948, when Israel was becoming an independent country, the name of the orchestra was changed to Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.  It's first conductor, in 1948, was Leonard Bernstein, and he conducted them for 20 years.  Zuben Mehta also conducted there.  Huberman wanted to fight Nazism through music.  He achieved this goal.  50 years after his beloved violin was stolen from Carnegie Hall, is was recovered.  Today it is played brilliantly by Joshua Bell.