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Boston's Morning Newsletter
An international exhibit is bringing 700 Holocaust artifacts to Boston
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
A collection of 700 Holocaust artifacts — hundreds of which are from the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum — is coming to Boston. The international exhibition, “Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away,” will be at Boston’s Saunders Castle at Park Plaza from March 15 through Sept. 2.
- The heartbreaking and powerful collection includes items that illustrate the lives of Jewish people and other victims of Nazi persecution who were interred and died at the Auschwitz concentration camp. An estimated 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi extermination camp. Of those victims, 90% were Jewish.
- What to expect: The sobering exhibit includes shoes, eyeglasses, suitcases, uniforms, letters, rings and other carefully preserved historical objects that once belonged to people murdered at Auschwitz. “We also have artifacts that relate to architects, the engineers that participated in the construction of the gas chambers,” said Luis Ferreiro, director of Musealia, who helped organized the exhibit in collaboration with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland. He said the collection urges the realization that “genocide is not possible without the complicity of large parts of society.”
- In 2019, the exhibit came to New York City, which Here & Now covered at the time. Tickets this year cost $34.95, and Boston will likely be the only stop on the East Coast during the exhibit’s 14-city educational tour. “The most important thing about [an] artifact is not what we can see, but what we can learn about them and the story they hold,” said Ferreiro. “It’s an exhibition that can actually bring people together in understanding where ideologies of hatred can lead.”
One of the largest student loan providers is about to cut a sizable check to Massachusetts. Nelnet has agreed to pay the state $1.8 million to resolve allegations that it didn’t do enough to help borrowers with affordable income-driven repayment plans renew their enrollment, as reported in The Washington Post.
- Zoom in: Companies like Nelnet are paid by the federal government and private lenders to collect student loan payments, answer questions and provide resources to keep people from defaulting on their loans. In this case, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the company did not to tell borrowers with adequate notice — 60 days is the legal requirement — to resubmit their earnings and family size so they could stay enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan.
- In the settlement: According to the Post, the state may use $800,000 to urge borrowers with older bank-based federal loans consolidate them (there are so many newer student loan forgiveness programs, including one as of this morning).
We’re in the midst of respiratory virus season. COVID cases are just now starting to moderate after a spike early this year; flu severity is high; and RSV is starting to recede after a big upswing, Massachusetts health officials say. According to reporting from WBUR’s Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, doctors attribute the increases to gatherings over the holiday season, a new COVID variant and seasonal virus transmission patterns.
- What can people do? Get vaccinated, according to doctors Priyanka spoke with. So far, only about 1 in 5 Massachusetts residents have received a recent COVID shot, and 1 in 3 have received their flu shots, according to state data.
Bye, Belichick: The longtime New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft officially confirmed yesterday morning’s early reports that the two are mutually parting ways. During a press conference at Gillette Stadium, Belichick said he’d “always be a Patriot.”
- Belichick’s farewell: “We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here, and that’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations, the amount of success that we were able to achieve together through a lot of hard work and contributions of so many people.”
- Kraft’s response to Belichick’s departure: “Like a good marriage, a good coach-owner relationship requires a lot of hard work, and I’m very proud that our partnership lasted 24 years.”
- In the locker room: ESPN’s Mike Reiss told WBUR there were a range of feelings. “One used the word ‘sad’ to describe their emotions, but also said they understood based on where things were,” Reiss told WBUR. “Another was surprised, thought that Bill would be back for a 25th season.” Former all-star Patriots players, including Tom Brady and Julian Edelman, also shared tributes.
