The St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum’s immersive exhibition “Hate Ends Now: The Cattle Car Experience” runs Sept. 10–14. While organizers expect strong attendance, the Museum notes that plenty of tickets remain available for Saturday, Sept. 13 — a prime opportunity for families, groups and community members to experience one of the museum’s most powerful programs.
Local artist’s haunting contribution
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Adding to the impact of the exhibition, visitors will encounter “Boxcar,” a welded steel sculpture by St. Louis metal artist Dale Dicker, prominently on display in the Staenberg Family Foundation Lobby.
Dicker, who grew up in a family of Holocaust survivors, spent two years shaping the piece. The 43-by-20-inch model German boxcar contains 49 faceless figurines, each uniquely crafted to express anguish, fear or resilience. The facelessness serves as both a symbol of those known and unknown, and as a reminder of countless victims whose names and lives were erased. A looming guard tower, hidden swastika, and other chilling details underscore the work’s message.
Dicker describes the sculpture as a “microcosm of genocide on an industrial scale” — a warning of what humans are capable of doing to one another. Positioned in the Staenberg Family Foundation Lobby, “Boxcar” greets visitors before they even step inside the cattle car experience, setting the emotional tone for what follows.
Inside the cattle car
The centerpiece of Hate Ends Now is the opportunity to step inside a replica of a Nazi-era transport car. Once the heavy wooden door closes, visitors are surrounded by survivor voices and 360-degree visuals that convey the terror of deportation.
Tickets and more information
Tickets can be bundled with museum admission or paired with the special exhibition “Stitching History from the Holocaust.” Due to the intensity of the cattle car experience, the museum does not recommend it for children under 10.
Reserve tickets — especially for Saturday — at STLHolocaustMuseum.org/HateEndsNow.
