Freed hostage Agam Berger given violin used by Jewish musician murdered in Holocaust
130-year-old instrument was brought to Israel by survivor, later restored by Tzachi Beck, who left it unplayed for years before delivering it to ex-captive: ‘I knew it had to go to her’
Freed hostage Agam Berger, an avid violinist, was gifted on Saturday a 130-year-old violin that once belonged to a Jewish musician who was murdered in the Holocaust, Hebrew media reported.
Berger, who was released by Hamas on January 30 as part of Israel’s ceasefire and hostage deal with the terror group, could be seen smiling as she played the violin in a video published by Ynet.
Tzachi Beck, who gave Berger the violin, told the news site he had restored the it years ago and hung it on his wall, where it remained unplayed.
When Beck learned Berger, still in captivity, was a violinist, “I knew it had to go to her,” he said. “From the moment she returned to Israel, I did everything I could to reach her.”
As soon as Shabbat was out, Beck said, he left his home in Petah Tikva and traveled to Berger’s home in Holon to give her the instrument.
“Now, it’s in the right hands — Agam’s hands, bringing it back to life,” he told Ynet. “And on International Women’s Day, no less, this violin goes to an incredible woman and true survivor who will ensure its song never fades.”
“She told me she would practice on [the violin] and take it to the March of the Living to play there,” he added, referring to the annual ceremony at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. “That would be a real moment of closure.”
Beck told Ynet that Berger asked to know more about the violin’s original owner. According to Beck, the violin was built in the late 19th century in what is now the Czech Republic, and belonged to a Jewish musician who played in a Polish orchestra. The unnamed musician was murdered in the Holocaust, Beck said.
Beck received the violin from 76-year-old Yitzhak Bering, whose father Motel had survived the Holocaust and came to Israel via Iraq with the instrument in tow.
Motel Bering, whose wife and two children were murdered in the Holocaust, remarried in Israel and had four children — including Yitzhak — before dying in 1972, Ynet said. It was unclear how he came to own the violin.
Speaking to Ynet, Yitzhak recounted how his father, determined to keep the violin intact, had carried the instrument throughout his tumultuous journey.
“When I heard the violin playing again, I felt like its original owner — the orchestra musician — was coming back to life,” he said.
Berger was one of seven female surveillance soldiers captured from the Nahal Oz base, just north of Gaza, on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in the Strip.
One of the soldiers, Ori Megidish, was rescued by Israel early in the war, and another, Noa Marciano, was killed in captivity. Four soldiers — Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa — returned to Israel on January 25, in the second hostage release of the ceasefire deal. Berger, the last captive surveillance soldier, was released five days later.
When she was still captive, Berger’s family spoke publicly about her love of music and released a now-well-known clip of her playing Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah.” The family marked Berger’s 20th birthday in August in an event that featured folk band Jane Bordeaux, singer Etti Ankri, and noted string instrumentalist Yair Dalal.
Both Berger and her family have credited faith and prayer with helping them find strength during her 482-day captivity.
Beck, who gifted Berger the 130-year-old violin, said she has “unbelievable strength.”
“You look at her and can’t believe it — how did she survive over a year in hell? It shows the power of faith in God, because otherwise, it’s impossible,” he said. “I’m certain the violin has found its rightful place at exactly the right time.”
