Do You Know The Ave Maria Violin?

This is a story based on historical facts.

During World War I, there was a prisoner-of-war camp in western Japan called Bando. It was the only POW camp in the world where the captors and captives, as well as the residents in surrounding areas, developed friendships. A German POW named Klaus Berger, who belonged to the music troupe, discovered the significant role music plays in times of conflicts.

A few decades later, the Nazi regime took advantage of music in the most horrific way, making it one of the saddest uses of music in the history of mankind. Klaus volunteers to go to Auschwitz in an attempt to save Hannah, a Jewish violinist placed in the camp orchestra. One violin has been through both wars to witness the joyous, and then the tragic, history where music was involved.

Present day in Japan, the violin now belongs to Asuka, who knows only peaceful times. She learned the history of the violin, and despite of the tremendous sadness she felt, little by little she begins to think about what she wants to do with her future.

The book was published in Japan and has been translated into Vietnamese. It is a masterpiece of the 21st century that has made impressions on readers both young and old. It was selected as one of the assigned books for the 2014 National Book Report Contest for high school students. It was also the 2016 winner of Sakura Medal in Japanese Middle School & High School Books division, voted by the students from international schools across Japan, as one of their favorite books.