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Mobile Holocaust Exhibit Stops at Rollins College

Jim Carchidi

The immersive experience featured a recreated WWII concentration camp transport and original artifacts, including a prisoner's uniform. Photos by: Jim Carchidi

Rollins College was one of four Orlando-area schools to host a traveling Holocaust exhibit that features first-hand survivor accounts and original artifacts.

The exhibit was created by the ShadowLight organization and the tour is presented by the nonprofit, Hate Ends Now. It arrived on campus Friday, Jan. 17, for a one-day engagement made possible through the efforts of Rollins Hillel and funded with the help of its co-president, Alexandria Cohen.

Cohen, a 2024 Ginsburg Fellows Program scholarship winner for her efforts to combat bigotry through education and interfaith dialogue, felt a responsibility to bring the exhibit to the Rollins student community. “I thought it was the perfect opportunity to educate and promote dialogue about this time in history.”

Rollins Hillel also donated a portion of its 2024 Student Philanthropy Week award to help cover the cost of hosting the exhibit, which is also scheduled to stop at schools in Boca Raton and present public showings in Atlanta.

Guests exit the cattle car portion of the exhibit, stationed outside Knowles Memorial Chapel on Friday, Jan. 17.
Rollins Hillel co-president, Alexandria Cohen, speaks with students outside the exhibit.
The cattle car exterior and interior were recreated in detail by the ShadowLight organization for use as a teaching tool.
The interior features one hundred pairs of shoe prints to represent the average number of people transported in the cattle cars.

The main experience, titled The Cattle Car: Stepping In and Out of Darkness, takes place inside a replica of the railway transports used to take Jewish people and other targeted groups to concentration camps during World War II. Guests view a 27-minute, 360-degree video on the Holocaust with personal stories told by two survivors. Guests are then shown to an exhibit of original artifacts that include a concentration camp prisoner’s uniform, propaganda pamphlets, identification cards and photographs.

A 360-degree video is projected on the walls of the cattle car and offers historical information and first-hand accounts from survivors.
Holocaust survivors Hedy Bohm and Nate Leipciger detail their experiences throughout the video.
Guests look over original artifacts, arranged in the Knowles Memorial Chapel office.
A concentration camp prisoner’s uniform, WWI-era German coins, and the identification cards of Jewish citizens are among the artifacts.

Trinity Preparatory School also hosted the exhibit for students and staff, and public showings were scheduled at Dr. Phillips High School and Edgewater High School. Rollins Associate Director of Jewish Life, Heidi Zissman, said a public showing would have been preferable, but the logistics were impossible. “We only have it for one day and we have over 2,000 students,” she said. “We wanted everyone on campus to have the opportunity to see it.

The exhibit is one of several events that Cohen and Rollins Hillel are planning for the fall semester. Cohen said her efforts are inspired by a December of 2022 trip to Poland where she visited the prison camps and other historic sites. She is also working to bring Holocaust survivors to the campus.

“We are the last generation that will be able to speak face-to-face with survivors,” she said. “We have a responsibility to pass this knowledge on to help educate future generations.”