All of the voyages whose endpoint was Ellis Island had a starting point as well, and for almost two million people it was the Red Star Line’s embarkation buildings in the Belgian port city of Antwerp. A new, temporary exhibition that opened on Friday at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration focuses on that part of the immigration story, one that was awash in hopes, uncertainties and, apparently, disinfectant.

The exhibition has arrived from Antwerp’s Red Star Line Museum, a capsule summary of what can be found at that impressive institution, which opened in 2013 in the refurbished building of the old Red Star Line. In five rooms, it describes the experiences of the thousands who from 1873 to 1934 boarded one of Red Star’s mighty ships in search of a new life.

The Antwerp museum has an origin story not unlike the Ellis one — both occupy buildings that were once derelict but were resurrected by private donors and public officials who saw the value in preserving and telling the world-changing migration saga. The new exhibition, which is called “Via Antwerp: The Road to Ellis Island” and will be in place through Sept. 4, nicely complements the permanent exhibits at Ellis, which are heavy on the arrival-and-processing chapter.