WWII rail car shown at Chandler Holocaust event

• A Holocaust remembrance is scheduled for the Chandler Center for the Arts on Tuesday, April 8.
• Activities will include a chance to tour a World War II-era rail car.
• Proceeds from the event will go to a planned Holocaust museum in Chandler.

For those who do not know any better, it is just an old rail car.

But for those who learn its history, it can trigger powerful emotions. It is the World War II-era Macedonian rail car that will be at the Chandler Center for the Arts on Tuesday.

The rail car is of the kind the Nazis used to transport people to labor and death camps during World War II. It is to be the central artifact in the Center for Holocaust Education & Human Dignity, a museum planned in Chandler.

The East Valley Jewish Community Center is working with volunteers from throughout the Valley to support the museum project.

While it still is not known if this particular car was used to transport people during the Holocaust, much has been learned about its history since the car was obtained two years ago. The center commissioned an expert in the preservation of artifacts to research the rail car's history and significance.

"We have confirmed it was a German-designed car that was made in Yugoslavia," said Steve Tepper, executive director of the Jewish Community Center. "It's estimated to have been made between 1915 and 1925, but maintenance markings show that it was in service during the time of the Holocaust. Most of the wood and metal is original, but there have been some modifications."

The car remained in use through 1976.

Museum-project volunteer Ilana Myerson, 42, who has visited former concentration-camp sites and has been trained as a Holocaust educator since she was 17, was among the first to see the rail car when the Jewish Community Center acquired it in 2012. Myerson said she was surprised by the depth of feelings it triggers each time she sees it.

"I kind of learned a long time ago how to present and hold my emotions back," Myerson said. "But the minute I got into this rail car, I cried. We were high up and it was windy, so it was rocking. It felt — I swear it sounded like a train moving. I swear I heard that."

The rail car has been kept as close as possible to the condition it was in when the Jewish Community Center acquired it. Some repairs have been made in the interest of safety, such as reinforcing the floor and ceiling.

Graffiti and service markings have been left on the car. There are holes in some of the walls, and faint outlines of writing are visible in its interior.

Tepper said some of those markings might hold clues to the car's history. Experts have examined the markings and even the layers of paint to determine the car's origins.

On Tuesday, those who tour the car will receive a postcard with the story of a Holocaust survivor on one side and the story of the rail car on the other. At kiosks, visitors can hear the stories of Valley Holocaust survivors in their own words.

Holocaust remembrance

In commemoration of Yom Ha'Shoah, or Holocaust remembrance, the East Valley Jewish Community Center presents "From Memory to Hope: Our Story" on Tuesday at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave. The schedule includes:

4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: The public may tour the World War II-era Macedonian rail car.

5 p.m.: Naturalization ceremony with remarks by Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny and comments from Samuel Harris, a Holocaust survivor of three Nazi concentration camps.

6:30 p.m.: Conversation with Leo Hymas and Fletcher Thorne-Thomsen. Hymas was among the first soldiers to enter the Buchenwald concentration camp, while Thorne-Thomsen was among the first to enter Dachau concentration camp.

7:15 p.m.: Screening of the documentary film "Our Story," which chronicles the stories of Valley Holocaust survivors. A conversation with the film's director, Jason Heinkel, follows at 8:20 p.m.

Tickets for the conversation with the soldiers and the film screening are $10 for general admission and $7 for active military members and veterans. There is no admission charge for the naturalization ceremony or rail-car tours.

Information: evjcc.org, 480-897-0588.