Something bigger than soccer was at the Orlando Health Training Ground at Sylvan Lake Park this week.
On Monday, the Orlando Pride experienced Southern NCSY and Shadowlight’s Hate Ends Now tour, an experience inside a holocaust era cattle car replica that teaches about the atrocities of the Holocaust through an immersive multimedia experience.
“It was intense,” said Pride midfielder Erika Tymrak. “I think as time goes on, it would be easier for people to forget, but I think experiences like this are important because [they keep] the memories alive of the amount of people and innocent lives that were lost.”
Pride goalkeeper Erin McLeod was moved as well. “I think it’s important, when it comes to these things in history, to remember them and to go through them,” she said afterwards. “It’s horrifying, really, seeing the children with zero body fat. I didn’t realize that they were the first ones murdered in front of their parents. It’s horrible, really.
“But I think what’s even scarier is at the end, they have some press releases and propaganda,” said McLeod. “These things are still happening, all the time, in this country, everywhere. So it’s a good reminder to make sure that we continuously fight to educate ourselves and to make sure that we do our part to end hate.”
The Hate Ends Now tour, put on with the support of many donors including the Wilf Foundation, seeks to impart the lessons of the Holocaust on today’s youth in order to stop antisemitism and hate in the United States and around the world.
“I think it touched a lot on hate and how we can never settle for that,” said Tymrak. “Love is always gonna outweigh hate. But it starts from people’s actions. As a society we still deal with that stuff. So just being able to do your part, if something’s not right speak up, and always fight for the good.”
“The fight’s not over,” added McLeod. “It’s a reminder. You’re looking at things in history that are happening today. The fight’s not over, we have to continually do our part. We naturally have biases, and we’re brought up in environments where these biases exist, so it’s about questioning those things.”
For more information on the exhibit, visit HateEndsNow.org.
