Brochure from Center for Holocaust Education & Human Dignity featuring survivor Lydia Lebovic

Lydia Lebovic Lydia Lebovic was born in Czechoslovakia which was occupied by Hungary in 1938. She was 16, with an older sister and brother, and a younger one who was 13. Her mother was a 38 year old widow. Life changed for the Jewish population after the occupation of the city and soon the order was given to pack 20 kilos of belongings, clothing, food, and toiletries."The day after, a German and a Hungarian policeman came to our house, asked for money and jewelry, took some items from the china cabinet, and told my mother to remove her wedding band and give them the key to the house." ^^ Soon after, her family was escorted to the ghetto where they lived for a month before being taken to the railroad station."Soldiers started screaming, pushing people into the cars, young and old, children, women carrying infants.The screaming was growing into panic." "We arrived in Auschwitz at dawn and all we could see was barbed wire and miles and miles of wooden barracks. Men in striped uniforms helped us out, lined us up separately; the women, children." "I held my mother's shaking hand with fear, my sister holding her other hand. As we got close to the waiting Germans, one grabbed my arm, yanked and brutally pushed me aside, then pushed my mother and sister to the opposite side. I looked back, not word was said, and this was the last time I saw them." Lydia was sent to a Hamburg work camp where she found her sister and brother, and was liberated by the British on April 15. In 1947, she and her husband migrated to Chile until 1963, when they received a visa to the United States and were reunited w f t f i ^ H R H H ^ ^ ^ ^ H u n c l e s . CENTER ^ ? FOR? w HOLOCAUST EDUCATION & Human Dignity A project of the East Valley JCC www.evjcc.org The Center The Center for Holocaust Education & Human Dignity is dedicated to educating the public about the Holocaust in order to take action on issues facing the world today. As a world-class museum, the lessons of the Holocaust and the message of human dignity will extend throughout the Southwest on a daily basis. Honoring victims of the Holocaust is the centerpiece of the project, while the name is meant to convey the larger message that dignity is an inherent human right. The East Valley JCC in Chandler, Arizona conceived of the Center as an extension of its events centered on diversity, understanding and human dignity. The Center will be built on the JCC's land adjacent to its existing building, which was originally intended for a JCC expansion and is now dedicated to an integrated campus approach. Exhibits will include Holocaust history and education, exhibits on other genocides, and rotating exhibits on current diversity and tolerance issues. The Railcar In early 2012, the East Valley JCC acquired the railcar from Macedonia, which was occupied by Germany during World War II. Railcars were integral to the German's ability to transport and murder mass numbers of Jews as they worked to carry out the"Final Solution". This railcar has been certified as 'being of the type and era' used to transport Holocaust victims to death camps. The Center for Holocaust Education & Human Dignity commissioned an expert in the preservation of artifacts to research the history and significance of the car, while preserving it as closely as possible to its current state. Research shows the car was of German design and made in Yugoslavia between 1915 and 1925, while elements of the car, specifically some of the windows, were fabricated in the late 1800's. Maintenance markings indicate the car was in service during the time of Holocaust, although it has not yet been confirmed that it transported people.The last maintenance markings indicate that the car was in service in 1976.The car was purchased as scrap metal from the Macedonian Railway Authority and shipped to the Port of Los Angeles, then transported by freight to Arizona. The railcar is significant as a symbol of the millions of people whose lives and families were destroyed and subjected to the worst of human nature. This railcar has traveled more than 11 thousand miles to fulfill its new purpose: to become a centerpiece in a place dedicated to human dignity, serving as a symbol of honor and respect. The railcar will be on limited display until it takes its place as the signature artifact in the Center for Holocaust Education & Human Dignity in Chandler, AZ.