9.4.2023
In the fifties, my father, Shlomo Bezek (Lorsch) wrote to the absentee property authorities in the Netherlands that he was looking for his sister Lea Lorsch's violin. It was a special violin that built for her by her husband Michel Boutelje (1909 – 1945). To his disappointment, the answer he received was “that the violin was not found”.
The other day we learned about the high quality of the violins that Michel Boutelje built. They were at the highest level. Some claimed that a cello, which he built and now can be found in Italy, is at the level of Stradivarius.
My brother Ido Bezek, of blessed memory, would always ask me: "Well, when will we find Lea's violin?" Also, Isrulik, my filmmaker-brother-in-law would ask me: “How do we make a film about a violin that we do not have?” Thus, in our family, the legend of the violin is passed down from generation to generation. It seems that as the years go by, the chance of meeting a violin made by Michel is decreasing.
One Day, at the beginning of February 2023, I received a call from Lex Menko, who introduced himself as a third cousin from my mother's side, Miriam Bezek (Janny) Van Praagh. "Do you want to hear a story?" Lex asked me and told me: “We sorted out the closets and started looking at the violin that my mother Bela passed on to my son Johny when he started playing. It was the violin of Uncle Joël Katan. When Joël did not return from the war, the family gave the violin to my mother, Bela, who used to be his student before the war”.
“This violin is an enigma, Lex added, such a beautiful instrument and we do not know its story. Where exactly did it come from? How did he survive the war?” He re-examined the violin and there was no flaw in it, nor was there a stamp indicating its origin. Then, Lex used a small flashlight to light into the violin. And to his surprise, inside he saw a note. He looked for the right angle that would allow him to read the words. Lit from the side, he took a picture, enlarged it, and read:
Michel Boutelje
me fecit s'Hage 1927
And who is Michel Boutelje? asked Lex himself. He typed the name in Google and here unfolded the life story of the violin maker, who lived in the city of The Hague in the Netherlands and took part in the zionist life of the Jewish community. He married Lea Lorsch and they had a son Simon. Michael and Lea would give concerts together. During the war years, they wandered from place to place until they had to part, Leah and their son perished in Auschwitz in October 1944, while he perished in February 1945, only three months before the end of the war. He was 35 years old when he died.
I published the stories and photos of Leah and Michel Boutelje on Joodsmonument.nl. This led Lex to contact us and from there, it was a short road to our meeting and to my meeting with the violin. What can I say, a violin by Michel Boutelje, which was so important to my father is found in Israel and with a twist, as it was part of my mother's family. We plan one day to hear the violin that survived a century at a family concert that we will hold in honor of its 100-year birthday.
Diklah Geva
Tel-Aviv
