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.
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.
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.”
