Midwestern soldiers held prisoners by the Nazis during World War II are the featured subjects of a traveling exhibit from Traces Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota, which will be in Massillon on Thursday, May 1. The exhibit is traveling around the Midwest this summer in a renovated school bus, and is affectionately known as the "BUS-eum" by the staff of Traces. Photographs, books, a video presentation and an expert on the topic will be available inside the museum. Admission is free.

During the morning and early afternoon, the bus will be parked at Washington High School and will be open exclusively for social studies classes whose visits have been arranged by Ms. Wendy Snodgrass, head of the Social Studies Department.

The public is welcome to visit the exhibit after it moves to the parking lot of Massillon's American Legion Post 221 at 427 Lincoln Way, East, Massillon. The bus will be at that location from 2:45 p.m. until 4:00 p.m.

A second attraction will also be available while the bus museum is at the Legion post: The John Toschoff Museum, located inside Post 221, will be open to visitors. Admission is free. Mr. Toschoff will host guests. Military uniforms and memorabilia from America’s wars, beginning with the Civil War, are on display. Memorabilia from the Legion's Drum and Bugle Corps and the MacGregor Pipe band will also be on display.

The Massillon Public Library and the American Legion are co-sponsoring the visit of the buseum. A similar exhibit, detailing the American interning of German Americans during WWII, came to The Massillon Public Library from the Traces Museum last year.

For more information, please visit the exhibit's information page at the Traces website. ###

release date: April 26, 2008