SWAMPSCOTT — A World War II-era cattle-car replica is parked outside the high school this week, as the Hate Ends Now Tour educates students on the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Hate Ends Now is a collaboration between ShadowLight and Southern NCSY that aims to combat antisemitism and all forms of bigotry through Holocaust education. Its cattle-car tour offers a 360-degree immersive experience meant to depict Holocaust victims’ “transition from being a human being to becoming a number.”
The 10-foot cattle car will remain parked outside the school until Thursday, and be open to the public Wednesday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
On Tuesday afternoon, a class of approximately 15 Swampscott High School sophomores stepped into the cattle car and were immersed in a multimedia display on Holocaust history, including recorded accounts from Holocaust survivor Hetty Verolme.
“It was interesting to get a physical representation. Seeing Hetty, and learning that she was our age when she was in the Holocaust and when it started, it really made it feel real,” said sophomore Oona Williams.
After the cattle-car tour, students made their way into the school lobby. There, Hate Ends Now educators answered questions about a collection of Holocaust artifacts including a concentration-camp uniform, a Nazi propaganda booklet depicting Jewish people as subhuman, and a Star of David armband patch used to identify Jewish people in Nazi-controlled countries.
Hate Ends Now Lead Educator Tara Silberg directed students’ attention to a Mercedes-Benz logo patch from Nazi Germany, explaining that the company partnered with the Nazi Party to create cars, tanks, and other vehicles for the party in return for concentration-camp labor.
“I always like to talk to students about the fact that this company is alive and well. Whether it be a company or individuals, when can you forgive?” Silberg said. “It’s really moving to see students that are engaged and say ‘Oh, wow, OK, I can make a difference,” and maybe talking about what they want to do in the future, where they’ll go with this power of one.”
Since its first exhibit in Ontario, Canada in 2015, the Hate Ends Now Tour has traveled across the U.S. and Canada — stopping in Marblehead last week — with the goal of ending modern-day antisemitism through Holocaust education.
“Their generation is the future and we need to make sure that they’re educated on this history,” said Hate Ends Now Educator Evelyn Riddell. “Not only can the students not forget it, they have to go forward and teach this to the next generation, so that this history won’t repeat itself.”
A report from the Anti-Defamation League released in March found that in 2022, the U.S. saw 3,697 incidents of antisemitic vandalism, harassment, and assault — the largest amount since the organization began collecting data in 1979.
“We want to make sure we teach kids what antisemitism is, but also the roots of it and what that has led to in the past,” Swampscott High School Principal Dennis Kohut said.
