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Largest Auschwitz artifact collection outside of Europe coming to Cincinnati Museum Center

Holocaust international exhibit
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CINCINNATI — An exhibition exploring the history of Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration and extermination camp, will open at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal on Oct. 18.

Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. is organized by Musealia and features more than 500 original objects from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and more than 20 other international museums. According to the Cincinnati Museum Center, this makes it the largest collection of Auschwitz-related items ever displayed outside Europe.

Items on display include personal belongings of victims and survivors, such as suitcases, eyeglasses and shoes, as well as remnants of the camp’s infrastructure.

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“An exhibition this substantial and comprehensive on Auschwitz is unprecedented and is unlikely to ever be assembled again. Lending institutions all over the world have come together to make this exhibition possible,” said Luis Ferreiro, Director of Musealia, in a news release. "It is also a moral urgency to remember those who lost their lives at Auschwitz. Listening to their stories and understanding how these events could happen is the best action we, as citizens of the world, can take against the re-occurrence of such a horrific event.”

In addition to the international artifacts, the exhibit will also include curated stories of local Holocaust survivors who came to Cincinnati after the war to rebuild their lives. These stories are presented by the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center, which moved to Union Terminal in 2019.

“In Cincinnati, we have an important and specific opportunity to share the history of Auschwitz and its survivors,” said Elizabeth Pierce, President and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center, in a press release. “Union Terminal is part of this history, both for liberators and for survivors. With our partners at the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust and Humanity Center, Union Terminal is part of the healing and resilience that continues today.”

Join the waitlist for tickets here.