Rail Car Unveiling, November 9, 2005

The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center unveiled one of its anchor artifacts on November 9th, 2005, at Block 37 in downtown Chicago. An early 20th Century German rail car of the type used by the Nazis during the Holocaust to transport millions to concentration camps and ultimately, their deaths, the rail car will be on permanent exhibit in the new Museum and Education Center when it opens in early 2008.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen, along with Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Jr., addressed the crowd of over 300. Fritzie Fritzshall, Sam Harris, J.B. Pritzker, and Richard Hirschhaut also spoke.

"It is impossible to see this car and not sense the terror and despair felt by the millions of men, women and children who were placed into such cars during the Holocaust. We believe this car will provide a platform for telling the story of the Holocaust in a way that goes beyond just words and pictures, making visitors understand on a deeper level the horror of the Holocaust, the essence of which is that people were completely stripped of their humanity, and eventually often lost their lives, once they entered these cars."
Richard S. Hirschhaut,
Project and Executive Director of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center

 

Rail Car Unveiling, July 24, 2007        

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On July 24th, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center witnessed the installation of this anchor artifact.  It
has been placed in a central location of the new building, securing its position as the centerpiece of this powerful new institution.  The rail car will help to convey the important lessons of the Holocaust by urging visitors to remember those that travelled to their death in such cars.  As part of the permanent exhibition, the artifact will be part of the educational resources the museum employs to teach visitors about the dangers of unchallenged hatred and bigotry.