Ibach
An Ibach piano that escaped the Holocaust reveals its untold history as it is restored four generations later.
It’s not every day that an instrument recovered from such a horrific event can also be the glue that holds a family and its history together.
In 1936, Heidi Frank escaped the Holocaust with her family and moved to Philadelphia. While she was forced to leave behind many of her family’s items, she managed to hold on to her first love: her German-made Ibach piano. Before the Holocaust, the Frank family owned a successful hat company in Germany. When the Nazis took over their small town of Magdeburg, the family traded their hat manufacturing company for their lives. With relatives already living in New York City, Heidi, her family and her piano immediately fled Germany and traveled all the way to Philadelphia.
While a piano can never replace the lives of those lost in the Holocaust, it now acts as an heirloom that encapsulates the Frank family’s history and lineage that will continue to be passed on from generation to generation.
When I first heard the Franks’ — now Brauers’ — story, I was struck by the similarity it held to my family history. My family was lucky enough to escape the Holocaust, which unfortunately, was not the case for most. However, the stories and events my family experienced were not regularly told by those who knew them or even experienced it themselves. In turn, a part of my history was lost when those members passed on. The Brauer family is fortunate enough to still have this heirloom, and more importantly, pieces of their family story, which they can reflect on daily as they sit down, play and enjoy the Ibach piano.
It’s important that we continue to share Jewish stories and histories, and I hope this film encourages people to talk to their families to learn and record their own history.
In 1936, Heidi Frank escaped the Holocaust with her family and moved to Philadelphia. While she was forced to leave behind many of her family’s items, she managed to hold on to her first love: her German-made Ibach piano. Before the Holocaust, the Frank family owned a successful hat company in Germany. When the Nazis took over their small town of Magdeburg, the family traded their hat manufacturing company for their lives. With relatives already living in New York City, Heidi, her family and her piano immediately fled Germany and traveled all the way to Philadelphia.
While a piano can never replace the lives of those lost in the Holocaust, it now acts as an heirloom that encapsulates the Frank family’s history and lineage that will continue to be passed on from generation to generation.
When I first heard the Franks’ — now Brauers’ — story, I was struck by the similarity it held to my family history. My family was lucky enough to escape the Holocaust, which unfortunately, was not the case for most. However, the stories and events my family experienced were not regularly told by those who knew them or even experienced it themselves. In turn, a part of my history was lost when those members passed on. The Brauer family is fortunate enough to still have this heirloom, and more importantly, pieces of their family story, which they can reflect on daily as they sit down, play and enjoy the Ibach piano.
It’s important that we continue to share Jewish stories and histories, and I hope this film encourages people to talk to their families to learn and record their own history.