Sixteen violins used by Jewish Holocaust victims - including an instrument whose case was used to smuggle explosives that blew up a Nazi base - were played on Wednesday in a concert in Jerusalem.

"Each violin has its own story," said Amnon Weinstein, 69, who together with his son has spent more than a decade restoring the violins collected from across Europe.

Weinstein, a violin maker, said he received the instruments in various states of disrepair, many of them decorated with stars of David, a testimony to their former Jewish owners.