Prague train station to become Holocaust memorial

Site of mass deportations of Jews to ghettos and death camps will turn into memorial site set to open in 2017.

By SAM SOKOL
Bubny train station 370 (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Bubny train station 370
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
A train station in Prague from which tens of thousands of Jews were deported to death camps and ghettos is to be turned into a Holocaust memorial site by NGO Shoah Memorial Prague.
Bubny Station was the site of mass deportations during the final years of World War II. The memorial is set to open in 2017, according to the NGO. In June the organization held an exhibit entitled Kaddish – the name of the prayer recited by Jewish mourners – the first of what is being billed as a series of events to generate public interest.
“The first projects will take place before the building is renovated. They will initiate a public dialogue, offering examples of how the Czech Holocaust might be presented at Bubny Station in the future. They will give a clear signal that these smaller temporary exhibitions will one day grow into a center worthy of the memory of all who passed through here,” according to Shoah Memorial Prague’s website.
“It is important for the temporary exhibitions to focus on what actually took place here. The final journey of thousands of people, as their identity was reduced to a mere number, began at a building in Veletrzní Street that stood right next to the Veletrzní Palace, which now houses the National Gallery’s collection of modern art.
They were then made to walk the short distance through the busy streets of this part of Prague down to Bubny Station. Retracing their steps is an essential element in the commemoration.”
Kaddish’s daily program included concerts, educational projects, public discussions, live readings, meetings with survivors and witnesses and other activities.