A Message of Hope from Classical: Hate Ends Now

LYNN — The Hate Ends Now mobile Holocaust exhibit and collection of originals came to town, giving Lynn Classical 10th grade students an up-close look at the stories of two survivors.

The exhibit is located inside an old cattle car used for a film. Classical history professor Lynn Charles Orrell said that before World War II, these cars were used only to transport livestock. During the war, cars were used for transportation Jewish people to concentration camps and death camps.

Orrell said the cars usually held between 100 and 150 people, with a bucket of water and a bucket for people to use the restroom.

“They were literally packed like sardines. We had 20 kids at one time, and it felt very cramped and we had a lot of personal space to move around,” Orrell said. “Ninety-five percent of the people who got off those wagons died within an hour and a half, and the rest were sent off as slaves. »

Orrell said many people would die in cars due to the horrible conditions and would not be able to fall out due to the congestion of people.

The exhibition tells the story of two Holocaust survivors, now aged 94 and 96.

“It’s a video that tells the stories of two Holocaust survivors, who are still alive today,” Orrell said. “(The exhibition) tells the story of how they were placed on one of these wagons and headed to Poland, where the five death camps were located, but where they somehow survived. another one.”

Kristen Tabacco, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for the city school district, said she found out about the exhibit through the Salem State University newsletter.

She was able to fund the two-day experience at Classical with funds from the Genocide Education Grant that the district applies for each year through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“This is only part of what we are doing with the genocide grant,” Tabacco said.

As part of the district’s efforts to provide more genocide-related education, Tabacco said it is adding a new elective course, Global Genocide, to the high school course roster.

Both Tabacco and Orrell said it is extremely important to know about past genocides, like the Holocaust, because most survivors are no longer alive.

The Hate Ends Now organization works to educate current generations about past atrocities, in order to prevent such atrocities from happening again in the future.