Monday, May 23, 2022 10:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Event Details
• The Holocaust Museum, established in Naples in 2001, is the outgrowth of a Golden Gate Middle School 7th grade student exhibit called “Out of the Ashes”.
• After a 4-year international search, this 10- ton authentic WWII era railway boxcar came to the Museum from Europe on May 16, 2007, and has undergone careful restoration.
• The acquisition of the boxcar was undertaken by Jack Nortman, a Board Member and Past President of the Museum, whose parents survived a displaced persons camp in Germany. The boxcar is on loan to the Holocaust Museum from Jack & F.E. Nortman and The Boxcar Foundation.
• The boxcar was manufactured in the Vorm. Schumann Factory in Germany in 1919, and was originally made of wood and imported steel from Belgium. The boxcar retains its original metal frame, brakes and wheels, but deteriorating wood has been replaced.
• Records indicate this boxcar was in the service of the German Railway System during the 1930s and 1940s. It is the type of car that was used during deportations. The average length of time someone spent in a boxcar was about 5 days, although some trips were much longer.
• On average 70-80 people were put in the boxcar at one time; however, there were occasions where over 100 people were forced into one boxcar. People in the boxcar were not given food or water, they only had what they brought with them, and they were not allowed off the train. Registration is not required. Weather permitting.
Event Type(s): Special Event
Age Group(s): Adult
Presenter: Holocaust Museum
Estates Branch Library
(239) 252-5135
Original source can be found here.
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