Rabbi Meyer May from the Simon Wiesenthal Center said hatred didn’t end with Adolf Hitler’s death.

Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones said discussion on Black issues should not end Feb. 28 — the final day of Black History Month.

Both shared their words Monday afternoon outside the Calumet City Public Library, in a bus intended to keep the conversation going about issues and problems Black and Jewish people faced in the past and face in the present.

The Mobile Museum of Tolerance, an offshoot of the California-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday in the library’s parking lot, 660 S Manistee Ave., and from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday at Calumet City City Hall, 204 Pulaski Road.

Also called the Tour of Humanity interactive bus, it has been touring Illinois for a year, showing videos about the Holocaust and slavery, among other issues, and providing instructors who open up dialogue with those who visit. The main target audience is students.

There has been a similar bus touring Canada for the past six years. May, who is the executive director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said his goal is for three more buses to tour Florida, California and New York within the next two years. Jones said he would like to see a second and third bus for Illinois.

May calls the bus a terrific asset and said it is convenient for students.

“It brings dynamic, interactive, beautiful education to children of all ages who come on the bus,” May said. “Not everyone is able to send children to museums, so we decided we will bring the museum to you. This is something that will be a game changer.”

May said he has seen the videos offered “thousands of times,” and while he thought some were unpleasant to watch, especially those involving German dictator Adolf Hitler and his role of killing 6 million Jews, he said they were important.

“It’s not just a bus where you show a few videos and then go,” May said. “It gives us an opportunity to really educate children on the ground, one by one. I hear the question ‘what do you need a bus for? Why can’t you have a teacher go into a classroom?’ But we have found that immersive, experiential learning is so much more effective than just having a talking head, no matter how good or dynamic the teacher can be. It’s not the same unless you have emotional engagement, and that’s what this bus has.”

He said some may think civil rights movements and other advances in the right direction make everything seem wonderful, but he wants to emphasize to children of all races and nationalities growing up that this is not the case.

“It’s not wonderful,” May said. “We have so many issues of racism. It would be great to think that hatred died with Adolf Hitler in his bunker. But it didn’t. The work is not done.”

Jones agrees, and he is quick to point out that focusing on these issues during

Black History Month is not enough.

“We are all Black 365 days a year and we are all Jewish 365 days a year,” he said. “We are all people coming together to fight racism and fight the intolerance. Don’t just wait until Black History Month to talk about the ways that we can work together to end racism and talk about racism.”

He urged people to talk about these issues with their families at home, school and work. He said that those who come into the Mobile Museum of Tolerance will be able to get an education and maybe change some minds.

Scott Nnamah, the president of the Calumet City Public Library Board, said it is an honor to be able to showcase the bus.

“It’s a fine example of how a mixed blend of diverse people can bring about and improve programming and systems for upward mobility for our residents,” he said. “It’s a great asset for our library. In an effort to properly produce our education for our children and the many challenges that the Jewish people and the African Americans have overcome. It is a breath of fresh air relating to human dignity and tolerance.”

May said the idea for the bus came when officials in Toronto were interested in building another Simon Wiesenthal Museum, a facility named after an Austrian Holocaust survivor. May said that a better idea would be to make the museum mobile to reach more people.

“Basically, it’s all about human dignity,” May said. “I want them to come out of here with respect for each other and tolerance for each other and to work together to make this place work for everyone.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.