Students had the opportunity to view a replica of a train car used to transport Jewish people to concentration camps during World War II, late last month at the Newton Public Schools Education Center. 

The Hate Ends Now Mobile Cattle Car exhibit featured a full scale replica of a World War II era cattle car April 29 and 30. The exhibit is the first part of a two-part exhibition for the Newton community hosted by NPS to commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month, according to Vice Principal Amy Winston. 

According to Steve Gerzof, an organizer of the Hate Ends Now Boston Tour, “It is like a trip back to an era which was so frightening for the people in it, but today, with the message that ‘It happened then, it could happen again.”

A 21 minute video was projected on the walls inside the cattle car, sharing the stories of two Holocaust survivors, Hedy Bohn and Nate Leipeigen. The exhibit also featured a display of Holocaust artifacts inside the NPS building, including Adolf Hitler campaign posters, a Jewish identification tag, and a concentration camp prisoner uniform. 

Gerzof explained that the Cattle Car is designed specifically for educating high school and college students on the events of the Holocaust. 

Originally created as a high school student’s senior project, The Cattle Car exhibit has been displayed on almost 100 school campuses across the country according to Gerzof. He first brought The Cattle Car exhibit to Newton three years ago, and for the last two years it has been hosted in City Hall. 

“Students ask a lot of questions about the Holocaust, and about what we are and about what we do,” said The Hate Ends Now Lead Educator, Jori Reiken. “Those questions start off as curiosity and end up with us having really big and important conversations.” 

According to Gerzof, after viewing the Cattle Car exhibit for the first time at Florida Atlantic University, he was taken aback by the impact it had on the college students.

“No one laughed, no one cried, no one texted, no one tweeted, no one slouched, no one slept,” Gerzof said. “When they walked out, no one was unaffected. They walked out quietly and silently, like they’d been to a funeral.”

In addition to encouraging people to reflect on the events of the Holocaust, The Hate Ends Now organization hopes to motivate individuals to get involved in preventing hate crimes and maintaining a sense of unity with each other, according to their mission statement.