JANUAR 2017
Artifact of the month for January 2017
Handwritten note score - Jacques «Jac» Maliniak
Handwritten note score - Jacques «Jac» Maliniak
Jacques "Jac" Maliniak was born in Warsaw, Poland, by parents Anna (b. Stabholtz) and Benjamin Maliniak. Jac was a trained violinist and conductor from the Conservatory of Music in Warsaw. In 1909 he married Mathilde Dorothea Halpern (b. 1887 in Warsaw) and a year later they had a daughter, Anna Maryla. The family moved to Norway in 1918 and settled in Trondheim where Jac got a job as Kapellmeister in Palmehaven, Hotel Britannia. In addition to his job as Kapellmeister Jac contributed at several concerts with the Trondheim radio ensemble, and he was a revered and beloved figure on the Trondheim music scene. Norwegian Musician Leaf wrote in 1939 that not only was he held in deep regard by the public, but perhaps even more so by his fellow musicians.
Pianist Agnar Naalsund, one of the musicians from Hotel Britannia said: "What I learned, I learned from Maliniak. He was a blessing for Britannia in particular, but really he was too big for a city of Trondheim's size. "
Jac. Maliniak was arrested in June 1941, during the German campaign against the stateless Jews, but released in July the same year. On the 7th of October 1942 he was arrested again and transferred to Falstad concentration camp. From here he was sent to Bredtveit prison in Oslo. On the 25th of February 1943 Jac and his wife Mathilde were deported with the ship Gotenland to Stettin in Poland, and from there, via Berlin, by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon arrival Jac and Mathilde were led straight to the gas chamber and killed.
The handwritten note score from April 1941, "Variations on an old Polish folk song - Pije Kubado Jacob - for clarinet with piano," was dedicated to Jac's friend and music colleague Per Johanssen. It is a gift to the museum from Johanssen son, Per Arne.
Photo: Jac. Maliniak, ca. 1928. The photograph is a gift to the museum from Jacs grandaughter, Liv Daasvatn