31 X 1883, Warszawa/Warsaw –
3 III 1943, Auschwitz-Birkenau
Biography
Jacob “Jac” Maliniak was a student of music at the Warsaw Conservatory but had to escape to Norway. He worked for many years as an orchestra conductor at the Palmehaven restaurant in Trondheim.
Jacob “Jac” Maliniak, son of Anna and Benjamin Maliniak, was born in Warsaw in 1883. He received his training as a violinist and conductor at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1909, he married Mathilde Halpern, and they had a daughter. He was a member of the symphony orchestra in Warsaw, where Edvard Grieg was guest conductor. Jacob Maliniak had heated discussions with Arnold Schönberg, founder of the revolutionary twelve-tone scale, regarding the arrangement of compositions and orchestration.
The family had to leave Poland due to the outbreak of World War I, and arrived in Norway 1918. Jacob Maliniak had worked as a musician in restaurants and orchestras in Berlin. He was invited to conduct the house orchestra in the Palmehaven restaurant at the Britannia Hotel, playing as many as three sets every day for the restaurant guests.
On 6 October 1942, the German occupying power declared martial law in the Trondheim region. All Jewish men were arrested, and Jewish women and children were evicted from their homes and gathered in two apartments. On 26 November they were arrested and sent by train to Oslo and detained at Bredtveit Prison. Jacob and Mathilde Maliniak were two of the 158 Jews from Norway who were deported on the ship MS Gotenland on 25 February 1943. On their arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, they were both sent directly to the gas chamber and killed. Their daughter Maryla managed to reach Sweden after a dramatic escape. Like her father, she became a professional musician. She also had her own orchestra.
After the war, a memorial fund was established in the names of Jacob and Mathilde Maliniak whose aim is to give financial support to young violinists from Trøndelag (a region in Mid-Norway). Jacob Maliniak’s violin was presented and played at the opening ceremony for the exhibition titled Hjemme. Borte. Holocaust i Trondheim (‘Home. Gone. Holocaust in Trondheim)’ at the Jewish Museum in Trondheim in 2019. His grandchildren now own the violin, which is at the disposal of the first concertmaster of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
Jacob Maliniak playing the violin. From the collection of Oslo Jewish Museum
Front page of the composition L’amour, quel délice! From the collection of Oslo Jewish Museum
Jacob Maliniak together with another violinist. From the collection of Oslo Jewish Museum
The Restaurant Palmehaven in Trondheim, Norway, where Jacob Maliniak played (National Library of Norway, Public Domain)
A composition in Jacob Maliniak’s handwriting. From the collection of Oslo Jewish Museum
Jacob “Jac” Maliniak was a student of music at the Warsaw Conservatory but had to escape to Norway. He worked for many years as an orchestra conductor at the Palmehaven restaurant in Trondheim.
Jacob “Jac” Maliniak, son of Anna and Benjamin Maliniak, was born in Warsaw in 1883. He received his training as a violinist and conductor at the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1909, he married Mathilde Halpern, and they had a daughter. He was a member of the symphony orchestra in Warsaw, where Edvard Grieg was guest conductor. Jacob Maliniak had heated discussions with Arnold Schönberg, founder of the revolutionary twelve-tone scale, regarding the arrangement of compositions and orchestration.
The family had to leave Poland due to the outbreak of World War I, and arrived in Norway 1918. Jacob Maliniak had worked as a musician in restaurants and orchestras in Berlin. He was invited to conduct the house orchestra in the Palmehaven restaurant at the Britannia Hotel, playing as many as three sets every day for the restaurant guests.
On 6 October 1942, the German occupying power declared martial law in the Trondheim region. All Jewish men were arrested, and Jewish women and children were evicted from their homes and gathered in two apartments. On 26 November they were arrested and sent by train to Oslo and detained at Bredtveit Prison. Jacob and Mathilde Maliniak were two of the 158 Jews from Norway who were deported on the ship MS Gotenland on 25 February 1943. On their arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau, they were both sent directly to the gas chamber and killed. Their daughter Maryla managed to reach Sweden after a dramatic escape. Like her father, she became a professional musician. She also had her own orchestra.
After the war, a memorial fund was established in the names of Jacob and Mathilde Maliniak whose aim is to give financial support to young violinists from Trøndelag (a region in Mid-Norway). Jacob Maliniak’s violin was presented and played at the opening ceremony for the exhibition titled Hjemme. Borte. Holocaust i Trondheim (‘Home. Gone. Holocaust in Trondheim)’ at the Jewish Museum in Trondheim in 2019. His grandchildren now own the violin, which is at the disposal of the first concertmaster of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.