The Berks Military History Museum recently presented a special Veterans Day exhibition of the Violins of Hope in its Holocaust Gallery. The violins are dedicated to the United States military and are part of a larger collection that survived the Holocaust.

Original owner Paul Lesser was born in Germany in 1921 and immigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape Nazi rule. He joined the United States military during World War II and eventually fought the Nazis in Germany. As a native German speaker, he was able to operate behind enemy lines.

Additionally, the Patriotic Order Sons of America and the Flag Shoppe of Adamstown donated a flagpole and flags to the museum on Veterans Day.