Union Station is joining communities around the world on Wednesday to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Station officials are encouraging the public to register for and attend an important live, online presentation titled, “Icons of the Holocaust: Symbolizing the Shoah in History and Memory” hosted by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. Free registration is available HERE.
June 14 also is being made official as the opening date of Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. to be presented in Union Station’s Bank of America Gallery. This date marks the 81st anniversary of the first transport of 728 Polish men to the Auschwitz camp in 1940. Among them were soldiers, members of the resistance, students and a small group of Polish Jews. This is considered to be the beginning of the operation of this German Nazi camp.
“With the final details of this significant presentation of history coming together in the last few weeks, we are pleased be able to announce the opening date on this international day of remembrance,” said George Guastello, president and CEO of Union Station. “Since we first announced plans to bring Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away . to Kansas City and the entire region, we’ve been working to solidify an opening date. As you might imagine, there has been overwhelming interest in supporting and attending this world-class presentation of vitally important history. We are honored and humbled to be the host of something this significant. and we look forward to welcoming our first guests this coming June 14.”
These bookend dates — January 27 and June 14 — are not only historically significant but also powerfully relevant in a current context.
“Symbolic dates create the structure of our memory,” said Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Auschwitz memorial director. “But we should not simply tie the memory to anniversaries. Remembrance must live in us all the time so that every day we find the strength to repair the world in which we live and in which our children will live.
“The liberation of Auschwitz happened on Jan. 27, 1945. It was the end of a hell that began on June 14, 1940. And it is on this symbolic day that we want to officially open the Auschwitz. Not so long ago. Not so far away. exhibition in Kansas City, the third place in the world after Madrid and New York and to date visited by over 800,000 guests.”
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice
