By all accounts, the Wheel of Conscience is a beautiful and effective museum piece that does what it’s supposed to do – remind spectators that in 1939, Canada callously turned away the MS St. Louis and its 937 passengers fleeing the Nazis.
The trouble is, the Wheel of Conscience only does what it’s supposed to do intermittently. It has a complex design with many moving parts and requires regular maintenance and is prone to breaking down.
Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, the son of Holocaust survivors, the Wheel was installed at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax in 2011 to commemorate the 254 St. Louis passengers who were eventually murdered by the Nazis after Canada refused them entry.
It has been is in storage in Toronto since the summer at the shop of its fabricators, Soheil Mosun Limited, while Pier 21 undergoes a major renovation that will see it expand its premises to 90,000 square feet, said Pier 21 CEO Marie Chapman.
But even early in its life, the exhibit presented problems. Only one week after it was installed, the exhibit broke down and was sent back to Toronto for repair, Chapman said.
It has been sent back several times every year since then. A black dust forms on its gears and a burning smell arises from the exhibit, she said, adding Halifax’s salt air might be a factor in the exhibit’s many breakdowns.
The Wheel’s future is currently being debated by various stakeholders, including Pier 21 and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
The original piece was commissioned by Canadian Jewish Congress and was paid for with a $500,000 grant from the government of Canada. Congress is defunct and its successor agency, CIJA, is consulting with Pier 21 about the exhibit’s future.
“There are ongoing discussions about a suitable permanent home for the piece,” said CIJA CEO Shimon Fogel.
One of the possible new venues for the exhibit might be the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, he suggested.
“It is important for the Wheel of Conscience to be in a place where Canadians will be able to benefit from what it was intended to do, to mark an event that is tragic and the lessons derived from that event.”
Mark Freiman, former president of Congress, has been involved in discussion about the display’s future.
“What is important is to ensure that the Wheel of Conscience is exhibited in a location where it is accessible to the public and that the government of Canada stands behind its original commitment, where the cost of upkeep will be [borne] by the government or a federal institution,” Freiman said.
That does not necessarily mean the exhibit must remain in Halifax. Another venue might be appropriate, as long as it provide the opportunity to educate the public about the impact of the Holocaust and the role of immigration in the larger context of human rights, he added.
In 1939, the Canadian government, along with the governments of Cuba and the United States, refused to allow the St. Louis to land. The ship returned to Europe where its passengers were disembarked in a number of countries. It is estimated that 254 were killed in the Holocaust.
The exhibit is a polished stainless steel wheel that incorporates four inter-meshed moving gears labelled antisemitism, xenophobia, racism and hatred.