03/30/2026
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The Violin of Hope display can be viewed at the Danville Library through April 12th. This violin has a connection to Anne Frank.
The violin was owned by Joyce Vanderveen. She was born in Amsterdam in 1927. Her father bought her this second hand violin at a very young age and she played so well that at the age of nine she conducted a children’s orchestra. Joyce was very gifted in the arts, some say a child prodigy. This Jewish Dutch girl became a violinist and a prima ballerina.
When the N***s invaded Holland in 1940 Joyce was barely thirteen years old. Their home was raided in the middle of the night and her mother was sent to the Westerbork transport camp where she was finally able to escape.
Joyce continued her ballet and violin lessons until they were forced to flee Amsterdam. Joyce, her mother, and sister found safety with farm families in Northern Holland where they hid until they could be reunited with the father. Joyce kept her one possession, this violin, through all the turmoil.
After the war Vanderveen danced in Europe and became a star of the Royal Netherlands Ballet. She toured nineteen countries and performed before the crowned heads of Europe.
In Paris, she was seen by the Kennedy family. She received a special artist’s visa, signed by Senator John F. Kennedy, for what she could contribute artistically to the American public.
She was offered a movie contract with Universal Pictures and performed for television and movies, including The Ten Commandments.
In 1997 Joyce heard from a friend that her childhood picture was included in Anne Frank’s wall of magazine pictures over her bed in the secret annex. Her picture on Ann’s wall remains there today, the carefree, happy image of a young girl Anne had cut out of a magazine.
After she retired from performing, Joyce devoted her life to training professional dancers. One became her prodigy, an 11-year-old boy from Russia named Ilya Burkiv. He needed an instrument for music lessons, so Joyce loaned him her violin. When he and his parents were forced back to Russia, Ilya returned the violin, where it remained under her bed for 19 years. It was not played again.
Years later in 2021, Joyce‘s daughter was able to formally donate her mother‘s violin in a ceremony at the Library of Congress. Avshi Weinstein, the son of the violin restorer, Amnon Weinstein, was present to accept the donation of Joyce’s violin.
There will be a free concert at the Danville Methodist Church at 2:00 p.m., April 12th, with a performance by violinist Jeffrey Phillips. The church is at 201 South Main Street, Danville, Iowa. Mr. Phillips will perform with the violin on display. A reception will be held in the Danville Station Activity Room following the concert. The Anne Frank Museum and railcar will be open during the reception.
