Traffic on Tremont Street slowed, passersby glanced up and a sea of cellphones pointed skyward on Tuesday morning when a crane lifted a historic railcar into the construction site of the new Holocaust Museum Boston — set to open in late 2026.

The railcar, weighing more than 12 tons and more than 30 feet in length, will be a focal point of the city’s newest museum — visible from a protruding fourth-floor bay window facing out to the northeast corner of Boston Common.

Discovered in a junkyard in the Balkan country of North Macedonia, the railcar is believed to be the type the Nazis used to transport Jews and other victims of the Holocaust to extermination camps across Europe, according to the museum.

“This railcar is not just wood and steel. It’s not just an artifact. It’s a witness. A wi

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