World War II Holocaust Railcar Exhibit

After viewing the entire museum on the inside, as I was told by one of the museum members, that there are also a few other exhibits for me to view outside. I had no idea what she was talking about other than it having something to do with the Holocaust. As I walked down, I passed a sign that read:

“Railroads, using more than 30,000 cars, were essential to the killing process. More than 3 million innocent victims from all over Europe were transported to their deaths by the railroad system. We had no idea where we were going or where they were taking us.”      
-Mady Deutsch-Holocaust Survivor-Currently resides in Houston, TX

I was able to physically view a relic of the railroad car that was used during the Holocaust. It was the exact same type of car but not the exact one being used at that time if that makes any sense. Words cannot express how that made me feel. As I entered the train, my stomach turned in knots and I had an uneasy feeling by just standing in there. Just to know that about 200 people were forced into one railroad car just amazes me. How did they do it? There were two really small windows and that was about it. How did people use the restroom, how did they move, how could they function without food/water, how could they even breathe? Then to know that they were being taken to a place where it’s either work or die. That’s even if they were selected to work at these camps because the elderly and babies were right away killed, either instantly or brutally. The Holocaust Museum Houston is part of a handful of museums from around the world that can give visitors an authentic physical reference point from which to learn the horrors that victims of Nazi persecution endured, which makes me feel that I was really experiencing something. This railroad car was an internationally recognized symbol of evil and oppression, which was relocated from Germany to Houston, Texas to be transformed into a monument to hope that humanity may one day be free of hatred, prejudice and discrimination.

This 25.7 foot long car was originally built to haul cattle and grain. Historical estimates that 3 million Jewish people were taken to their deaths by train. Most trains had about 50 cars which could hold anywhere between 50-200 depending on where they were in use. Trips sometimes took days to complete and many died en route. During winter, these victims were exposed to freezing temperatures and during summer, they endured suffocating heat and stench. Almost all cars have fallen into despair which basically means they are either not traceable or they have been destroyed.           

The railroad system was something you definitely did not want to know anything about. I see the evil in them, which is why I felt what I felt when walking into one. What a learning experience that was.