Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
HUDSON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — On Jan. 19, the American Heritage Museum unveiled an original World War II railroad car used by Nazi Germany to transport Jewish people to concentration camps.
The railcar is the newest addition to the museum’s Holocaust exhibit. With this piece of history on display, the museum aims to provide “visitors with a direct connection into the terrors of the Holocaust and how Nazi Germany’s anti-Semitism that led inexorably to genocide,” said the American Heritage Museum in an email announcing the exhibit.
The American Heritage Museum has exhibits ranging from the Revolutionary War to 9/11 and the War on Terror. Their mission is to “engage, educate, entertain and enlighten its audiences in the history of our military and veterans through a chronologically arranged series of exhibits and educational interpretation.”
The unveiling on Jan. 19 was on the eve of the anniversary of the 1942 Wannsee Conference of Nazi leaders which established the “Final Solution,” the museum explained in an email announcing the exhibit.
At the ceremony that opened up the display, the museum said that over 100 guests were in attendance, including distinguished guests such as Ambassador Meron Reuben, Consul General of Israel to New England; Christopher Mauriello, Ph.D., Director, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Salem State University; Cantor Vera Broekhuysen of the Congregation Beth El of Sudbury; and Cantor Wendy Siegel of the Temple Emanuel of Marlborough.
Ambassador Reuben detailed the exact conditions of the people who were forced into the railcars. The people were “packed in, with up to 100 to 150 people squashed in and were driven for days until they came to the extermination camps,” he said.
Mauriello spoke about the roll that railcars like the one on display had in the genocide of millions of Jewish people in Nazi Germany. “Remember the railcar journey was a form of genocide. It was not just transportation, it was mass murder,” he said.
The railcar is made of cherry-colored wood and steel, with the name of the manufacturer “Deutche Reichsbahn” written in white letters on the side. There are several suitcases inside the car.
American Heritage Museum President Rob Collings encouraged guests to touch the railcar. “You should be able to touch history. It makes it real,” he said.
One person who attended the unveiling did just that, becoming emotional. “It’s hard. I have friends whose parents were in these things,” the man said.
The railcar restoration and display is the first phase of two which are part of the American Heritage Museum’s “plan to gain a deeper understanding of the Holocaust, its origins, and its lasting impact on humanity,” explains their website.
The second phase is expected to be completed by Jan. 27, 2025 in honor of the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. It will include audio recordings of survivors and an immersive experience for museum visitors.
The railcar is currently on display in the World War II Gallery of the American Heritage Museum, which is open Wednesday through Sunday each week from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.
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