Remember the names Nate Leipciger and Hedy Bohm. They are the two Holocaust survivors whose stories were projected across all four walls of the cattle car replica that was outside of the City of Parkland Library from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15. This exhibit–brought to life by juniors Mallory Biederman and Ethan Klein, co-founders of the DECA chapter project We Remember–shared Leipciger and Bohm’s stories so that their memories could live on and serve as a reason for viewers to speak out against hate.
“Running this event was an incredible opportunity for the Parkland/Coral Springs area to experience,” Biederman said to ShadowLight. “From submitting a Special Event Permit with the City of Parkland to seeing the hard work come to life, I have loved every moment of this journey.”
Klein and Biederman founded We Remember after Biederman was approached by DECA Advisor Sharon Cutler about starting a chapter project. After she was approached, Biederman went to Klein about the project, and before long they had both fallen in love with the idea of We Remember. The pair have since gone on to have a monumental impact on the Parkland community, spreading awareness about hate and the Holocaust at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and beyond.
The Hate Ends Now Cattle Car Exhibit took slightly under two months to plan, with Klein and Biederman working closely with inSIGHT Through Education President Kelly Warsaw to make it happen. As a nonprofit organization, inSIGHT is dedicated to using lessons learned from the Holocaust and other genocides to educate and encourage kindness. The nonprofit has a partnership with Hate Ends Now, the organization that owns the cattle car, thus allowing the exhibit to travel across the globe and educate people in all parts of the world.
Klein and Biederman also worked with the City of Parkland and City of Parkland Library to make this exhibit happen. Emailing back-and-forth with those in the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Parkland, the co-founders worked tirelessly to coordinate the event, submit the necessary permit for the event and subsequently advertise the event.
Making an announcement at the Orange Bowl on Dec. 14, sending out emails to local synagogues, Mayor Christine Husky, city commissioners, the staffs of MSD and Westglades Middle School and putting together a global Canvas announcement, Klein and Biederman did everything in their power to make the event known. They also put up flyers in the classrooms of DECA advisors, had articles written about the event by Parkland Talk and TAPinto Parkland and most crucially, promoted the exhibit on social media.
“I definitely think social media was our biggest strength for advertising, along with the articles by Parkland Talk and TAPinto Parkland,” Klein said. “Both of those really stood out, I think, to the community and they really got out there. In regard to promoting it to the Douglas staff, the Canvas announcement was tremendously helpful. It was incredible to see that.”
On the Instagram page for We Remember, which has upwards of 200 followers, the Hate Ends Now Cattle Car Exhibit was promoted extensively, alongside many other posts aimed at spreading awareness about hate. The efforts of Biederman and Klein proved triumphant, as the event wound up being more successful than either had imagined. With the original goal of having 200 attendees, the event ended up having 324, making it one of the exhibit’s most successful events.
“The turnout was beyond our expectations,” Klein said. “We had originally expected about, or I guess our goal was, 200 people and we are thrilled to be able to say we had 384 people in the end… which is truly just mind-boggling to us.”
Among those in attendance were many MSD teachers, who came out to learn about the Holocaust and support Klein and Biederman. Such teachers included Cutler, Television Production teacher Eric Garner, Holocaust History and English teacher Darren Levine, social sciences teacher Ronit Reoven, English teacher Stacey Lippel, English teacher Debra Jacobson and DECA Advisor Lisa Webster.
Biederman and Klein were there to supervise the event, as was Warsaw, CEO of Hate Ends Now Todd Cohn, ShadowLight Educator Jori Reiken and others.
“Coming to an exhibit like this, or learning about the events of the past, can really help us recognize trends and prevent hate from happening across the world,” Reiken said.
Inside the cattle car, Leipciger and Bohm’s stories were projected on the walls, providing viewers with an immersive experience that allowed their memories to live on. After all, it is only through keeping their stories alive that people can continue to remember and learn from the Holocaust. As the genocide becomes an even more distant past, events such as this serve as a reminder to never let the memories of its atrocities fade.
“Our generation, Gen Z, is almost, if not the last generation or one of the last generations to actually be able to see, or in a sense, have Holocaust survivors alive with us,” Klein said. “Once they are gone, the lessons of the Holocaust and the history of the Holocaust need a way to be able to live on. Through exhibits like this cattle car, that’s able to happen and I think that that’s really a significant thing for our community.”
Touching Parkland residents’ hearts and providing them with a renewed awareness of the Holocaust, the Hate Ends Now Cattle Car Exhibit did real good throughout the community, an effect that can be attributed to none other than Klein and Biederman.
