A Holocaust-era replica cattle car will be on display at the National Mall in Washington DC on May 6 until May 9, where visitors will be able to engage with a learning experience about the Holocaust and antisemitism.

Elected and appointed officials are expected to be among the thousands of anticipated visitors attending the exhibit.

Organized by the nonprofit Hate Ends Now, the traveling exhibit included a 20 minute immersive presentation alongside a rare collection of original Holocaust artifacts. The cattle car is an exact replica of a World War II era cattle car used to transport Jews and other targeted groups to concentration and death camps by Nazi forces. 

The exhibit at the mall will coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 6, which also marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. 

“Placing the Hate Ends Now cattle car in the capital of the free world during a time of alarming increase in antisemitism globally sends a powerful message, reminding us of what happens when hate is allowed to go unchecked,” said Todd Cohn, CEO of Hate Ends Now. “People of all ages have a visceral reaction when they step foot in the Cattle Car and when it seemingly comes to life with the voices, pictures, and stories of this dark era.”

What is in the exhibit?

Trained docents greet visitors outside of the cattle car, where they educate the public with the exhibit and provide critical context and frame the presentation. 

Accompanying the exhibit are 25 original artifacts from the Holocaust; which have rarely been permitted outside of museum walls. The public then sees and hears firsthand accounts from Holocaust survivors. 

“Amid sharp increases in antisemitism across the country, the need to bring the cattle car to more people is greater than ever before,” added Cohn. “Particularly for people who do not connect as much with a textbook or museum, or don’t otherwise have access to educational opportunities like this.  It is the perfect learning experience.” 

The National Mall cattle car exhibit is sponsored by the Biden-Harris administration through the US Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Committee. Other sponsors include the US Department of Veteran Affairs, Jewish Federations of North America, ADL, American Jewish Committee, Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, Edlavitch JCC, and 3GDC.

The president of George Washington University is seeking assistance from local law enforcement as the university attempts to handle the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

Ellen M. Granberg, the president of the university, described the encampment as “an illegal and potentially dangerous occupation of GW property,” in a new statement issued on Sunday.

“When protesters overrun barriers established to protect the community, vandalize a university statue and flag, surround and intimidate GW students with antisemitic images and hateful rhetoric, chase people out of a public yard based on their perceived beliefs, and ignore, degrade, and push GW Police Officers and university maintenance staff, the protest ceases to be peaceful or productive,” Granberg said.

The university has “requested the assistance of the DC Metropolitan Police Department, erected barriers to contain the protest, initiated academic and administrative consequences for trespassing GW students, expanded our security resources and personnel, and conducted regular and sustained dialogues with GW students connected to the camp,” she said.

Granberg explained that the university is “not equipped to single-handedly manage an unprecedented situation such as this.” Granberg also confirmed that the school is in communication with D.C. and the Metropolitan police, who are providing “an increased security presence on and around University Yard.”

“I understand and fully share the deep concern many feel about the status of the protest. Many are frustrated that it is continuing; some are willing for it to proceed indefinitely. At GW, our commitment remains to regain and maintain the safety and security of University Yard, pursue accountability for those who have destroyed university property and harassed our community, and return our university to normal operations,” Granberg said.

She continued, “This includes, of course, allowing and promoting the free exercise of various viewpoints and means of expression by members of our community within the limits of university policies. We continue to ask for the full support of our partners, including the District of Columbia, in pursuing these aims.”

The university is far from the only one struggling with how to respond to these anti-Israel encampments that have popped up at several colleges nationwide. The protesters have sought to get their universities to meet their demands, which largely include divesting from any weapons manufacturers, Israel, and any company that has ties with Israel.

There have been instances at these encampments where pro-Palestinian protesters have espoused anti-semitism. Between that and some instances of violence and confrontations between them and pro-Israel counter-protesters, it has made university administrators wary of letting the encampments continue.

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There have been instances, as well, where university officials have sought law enforcement’s assistance in clearing the encampments, but it has at times resulted in violence as well. At least 25 people were arrested on Saturday at the University of Virginia, according to the New York Times.

Northwestern University announced last week that it reached an agreement with protesters, which, among other things, reestablishes the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility with student, faculty, and staff representation. Brown University announced on Tuesday that it would hold a vote on whether to divest from Israel in October, in exchange for the end of the protesters’ encampment.

Multiple political and university leaders, including Granberg, have alleged that outsider agitators have gotten involved in the protests.

The noise drew a teacher at Dunbar High School to leave her desk mid-conversation Friday morning and peer out the window. Gun shots.

When she turned back around, the student she’d been talking to was on the floor, blood pouring from her head, according to a sworn statement filed in D.C. Superior Court.