Metro Voice News Celebrating Faith, Family & Community
Time is running out to visit the Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. exhibition at Kansas City’s Union Station. There will not be another extension according to Union Station officials, because the tour is scheduled to open in Malmo, Sweden, this spring.
The total number of guests (already attended and reserved) for the Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. exhibition has now surpassed 300,000, setting an all-time record for the station since reopening over 21 years ago.
“This historic exhibition has forever changed us as an organization and as individuals,” said George Guastello, Union Station president and CEO. “When we began working to bring the Auschwitz exhibition to Kansas City nearly six years ago, we knew it would make an important and necessary impact. None of us, however, could have foreseen the magnitude of that impact. From all 50 states and multiple countries, guests have experienced this essential and compelling content in ways that will shape and reshape attitudes and lives. For that, we are profoundly humbled and grateful to all those who made this experience possible.”
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Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. opened last June 14, and from that day forward, attendance records have been broken by every measure, again and again. But the numbers themselves are only a partial reflection of the impact. Guest sentiment, as measured by post-visit surveys, rank this exhibition at the very top as well. More than 97 percent of exhibition visitors described their experience as excellent.
A door to one of the ovens used to incinerate bodies.
The exhibition recently was extended to March 20, adding another 55,000 tickets. Nearly half of those already have been sold, with all weekends now sold out. Tickets for Monday through Friday remain available, and interested guests are encouraged to lock in their plans and pre-purchase their tickets soon. Tickets can be purchased and complete details found at www.unionstation.org.
–Anita Widaman | Metro Voice
