(JEWISH GROUP) Boston's unfinished Holocaust museum hoists boxcar into exhibit space overlooking Boston Common

Boston’s unfinished Holocaust museum hoists boxcar into exhibit space overlooking Boston Common


A 173-foot tower crain hoists a 20th century 12-ton railcar into the upcoming Holocaust Museum Boston. Photo by Kenneth Berman Photography

Traffic on Tremont Street in downtown Boston came to a standstill Tuesday morning as a crane lifted a historic 12-ton railcar onto the fourth floor of the city’s upcoming Holocaust museum.

The museum, the first of its kind in New England, was launched by the The Holocaust Legacy Foundation in 2022, which was founded by business partners Jody Kipnis and Todd Ruderman following a 2018 March of the Living trip to Auschwitz.

While construction on the site, which rests on the city’s Freedom Trail near the Boston Common, remains ongoing, the installation of the 20th-century railcar, believed to be the same type used by the Nazis to transport Jews to extermination camps, marked a major milestone for the museum’s creation.

The railcar, which measures 30 feet long, 12 feet high, and nearly 9 feet wide, was lifted into the new museum structure by a 173-foot tower crane before construction continues around it.

A group of supporters, Massachusetts officials, civic leaders, Jewish community representatives and Boston-area partners looked on as the railcar was installed, according to the museum.

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