A Nazi boxcar exhibit in the middle of Florida International University illustrates the perils of antisemitism. NBC6’s Ari Odzer reports
It’s a startling sight, especially if you know anything about the machinery of the Holocaust.
There is a railroad boxcar sitting in the middle of the Florida International University main green: a replica of the cattle cars the Nazis used to transport millions of victims, mostly Jews, to the death camps during World War II. It’s a stark reminder of where unchecked hatred and mob mentality can lead, and it features a multimedia presentation on the inside.
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WATCH HEREIt's a teaching tool for a teachable moment.
“To help those who are more ignorant to kind of understand and maybe even change the hearts of those who are more on the hateful side of things,” said FIU student Alex Bennett, just after he experienced the presentation.
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“It’s heartbreaking, seeing, like, the atrocities that occurred back then,” added FIU student Michael Aguirre. “Sometimes you need to take a moment and look back and see how bad it really was.”
The exhibit was brought to FIU by its Hillel chapter.
“We felt it’s important to put this here in the middle of campus, let people know what happens when antisemitism is at its worst, and how they can stand up to hate of all kinds,” said Jon Warech, the chapter president.
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The boxcar stands as a monument to hate at a moment when the Jewish community is saying “never again” is now.
“Everybody’s scared, whether you’re a student, whether you’re a parent, we’re all kind of feeling the same thing,” Warech said.
They’re scared because of the flood of antisemitic incidents worldwide, such as Harvard students harassing a student merely because he was visibly Jewish, a man slashing a “Stand With Israel” banner in Miami Beach, death threats directed at Jewish students at Cornell University, Jewish homes and businesses being marked with Stars of David in Paris, and the list goes on, obviously fueled by the Israel-Hamas war.
One student told us when protesters excuse or minimize the barbaric Hamas terror attacks on Israelis, it’s endorsing the dehumanization of Jewish people, which is exactly what the Nazis did.
“It is striking how they normalize genocide of the Jewish people, how they are trying to normalize the elimination of a culture, of a people, of a nation, and that is disgusting in my opinion,” said FIU student Ismael Columna.
The chilling parallels between the past and the present, illustrated by the boxcar exhibit.
