The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum opened in its new location on September 18, 2019.

The seminal exhibit of the Holocaust/Shoah is a restored Nazi-era boxcar used by the German Army during WW ll. The Holocaust/Shoah Wing is the first major exhibition space that visitors will experience, and it encourages visitors to focus on the history and inhumanity that were the horrors of the Holocaust.

The boxcar was originally brought to Dallas in 1984, when Jewish Holocaust Survivors and North Texas residents joined together and created The Dallas Memorial Center for Holocaust Studies.  Parts of the boxcar had been on display in the previous museum, other parts were in storage, and almost half of the boxcar had been lost to time. 

Ron Siebler was tasked with the responsibility of reassembling the existing pieces, and recreating what was missing. Planning, restoration, and installation of the boxcar took over two years of work by a dedicated group of highly skilled artisans and craftspeople. 

Dallas Morning News columnist Sharon Grigsby recently wrote “The boxcar restoration challenged Siebler to grow at every turn -- not just technically but emotionally and spiritually.  The history, the images and the personal stories he’s heard from those who lived through it were never far from his being." 

Mary Pat Higgins, museum president and CEO, told Grigsby that Siebler's North Texas roots -- as well as his talent and resume -- made him the perfect fit for the boxcar project. "Ron has been a consummate artisan but, more than that, a caretaker of this artifact that is so precious to us."

Learn more about the boxcar and restoration by clicking on the following links:

Standing Up A Texas County Reporter episode that
includes a section about our work to restore the Nazi-era boxcar.

The boxcar Documentary film trailer by Mark Birnbaum & Ron Siebler

A behind-the-scenes look at restoring the Dallas Holocaust Museum boxcar by Sharon Grigsby, Dallas Morning News

Photographic essay of the boxcar restoration by Fred Hight

Boxcar T-bolts A video short by Mark Birnbaum

Boxcar Serendipity A video short by Mark Birnbaum

First Look At New Dallas Holocaust Museum by Bill Zeeble, KERA Art and Seek