Hidden in a basement in central Tel Aviv, amidst the smell of sawdust and varnish, is a musical workshop whose owner and son have spent the last 15 years tracking down violins played by Jewish Holocaust victims and bringing the instruments back to life.

"The Germans confiscated from the Jewish people every violin, viola, cello they could and we are talking about thousands, gone with the wind," said Amnon Weinstein, working amongst the dozens of violins and bows hanging from the walls and ceilings of his unique workspace.

Weinstein is a luthier -- an artisan and craftsman of string instruments -- a relic of a bygone era, whose moustache and spectacles do little to hide his eccentric streak. He says almost all of the survivors who played in the concentration camps owed their lives to their instruments....