German railway gives go-ahead to holocaust exhibit
Germany's national railway agrees to host exhibition on deportation of Jewish children to Auschwitz by train in WWII, drops initial resistance after being pressured by gov't
German National Railways said on Friday it had agreed to stage an exhibition at railway stations on the deportation of Jewish children to Auschwitz by train, dropping its resistance after coming under government pressure.
Deutsche Bahn AG had argued its own museum in Nuremberg was a better forum for the event but came under pressure from Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, who said the group should not give the impression it was trying to bury the issue.
Explaining its change of course, Deutsche Bahn said in a statement: "With this, DB AG complies with a special request from Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee."
Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, who have devoted their lives to tracking down former Nazis and bringing them to justice, had pressed for Deutsche Bahn to host the exhibition as successor to Hitler's wartime Reichsbahn.
The exhibition, which will also be on show at other venues, will include photographs of Jewish children who were among around 11,000 deported from France by rail during the Holocaust, in which a total of around 6 million Jews were killed.
The deportations passed through German stations on their way to the Nazi concentration camp in southern Poland.
The exhibition is due to open on Jan. 27, 2008, a day of remembrance for the victims of the Nazi regime.
