certain ideologies,’ said Luis Ferreiro, director of Musealia.
‘Auschwitz leaves us no excuse. We know where certain ideologies lead to, and therefore I think the exhibition also becomes
a powerful message from the 20th century to us whole citizens of the 21st century. How we listen to that story, what we do with it, is then our responsibility. And I think that is also something important, that we all have this responsibility towards our own present and the future,’ he added.
The visitors at Union Terminal will see several hundred items, mainly from the Auschwitz Memorial Collection. These include personal items belonging to the victims, such as suitcases, glasses and shoes. The exhibition will also include concrete posts forming part of the Auschwitz camp fence; fragments of the original barrack for prisoners in Auschwitz III-Monowitz; a desk and other items belonging to Rudolf Höss, the first and longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz;
a gas mask used by the SS; and a lithograph depicting a prisoner's face by Pablo Picasso.
Additionally, the exhibition features individual objects on loan from more than 20 institutions, museums, and private collections worldwide, including Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Wiener Library, and the Buchenwald Mauthausen and Sachsenhausen and Westerbork memorial sites.
In addition to the original items that are
a permanent part of the exhibition, Cincinnati also features several objects that tell the stories of survivors who came to the city after the war and rebuilt their lives here. They come from the collection of the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center based at Union Terminal, which is responsible for the educational program accompanying the exhibition.
‘This exhibition brings more than 500 original artifacts from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and other international collections to Cincinnati. Having them here in this space where Holocaust survivors once stepped off trains to begin again is both historic and deeply symbolic,’ said Jackie Congedo, CEO of Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center.
‘Union Terminal is not just a landmark, it is
a living part of this story. At the Holocaust and Humanity Center, our mission is to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust inspire people to be upstanders, individuals who take action, speak out against injustice, and use their humanity to make a difference in our world.
This exhibition is not just about what happened, it's about what we do with that history today, how we respond to hate, how we build understanding, and how we find courage in our own time,’ she added.
Steve Coppel whose father, Auschwitz survivor Werner Coppel, arrived at Union Station in 1949 and started a new life in Cincinnati, was present at the opening of the exhibition.
‘He lost everything, but he arrived here with his wife, his baby, my older brother, and
a suitcase. And from that moment, he began again. That same suitcase, worn and simple, is now part of the exhibition on display, just steps from where he stood when he came to this city. Every time I see it, I am struck by what it represents,’ said Steve Coppel.
The exhibition
“Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away”
will be on display at Union Terminal
in Cincinnati until 12 April 2026.
More information about the exhibition and tickets can be found at: https://www.cincymuseum.org/auschwitz/
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