Spotlight on the March of the Living Southern Region Kristallnacht Commemoration

Spotlight on the March of the Living Southern Region who hosted its annual Kristallnacht Commemorative Program this year. The event featured “Jewish Voices,” a poignant musical…

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Interview: Philipp Doczi, Chairman Of March Of Remembrance And Hope – Austria

Phillip Doczi Chairman of March of Remembrance and Hope in Austria at the March of the Living (Photo…

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Marking 80 Years Since the Loss of One of Jewish History’s Greatest Heroines: Hannah Senesh

Today marks the  80th anniversary of the death of Hannah Senesh  (  חנה סנש) who was executed by Hungarian Nazis on  November 7 1944. Hannah Senesh was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1921.  Embracing Zionism from an early age, Senesh experienced severe antisemitism in high-school, leading her to immigration to the land of Israel in 1939 in her teens. A gifted poet, Senesh composed poems in Hebrew and Hungarian while working on Kibbutz Sdot Yam before joining  the Haganah and the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force. Senesh was then recruited for the Special Operations Executive and was sent to Egypt for parachute training. The Yishuv, the Jewish community in the land of Israel, joined the war effort against the Nazi. In 1943, its leadership organized a group of 37 paratrooper – a Jewish commando unit formed under the aegis of the British army – on missions to Nazi occupied Europe.Senesh was the only woman in the unit, which was dropped into Yugoslavia in mid-March 1944, to rescue Hungarian Jews, including some of  her own  family member who were on the verge of being sent to  their deaths in Auschwitz.Shortly after crossing the border, Senesh was arrested by Hungarian gendarmes.  After enduring months of brutal torture – during which Senesh refused cooperate –  Hannah Senesh was executed by firing squad on November 7th, 1944.Her remains were transported to Israel in 1950 where she was buried with full military honors in the paratrooper section on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.Today, Senesh is regarded as a national hero in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora. Her name and poetry are known to almost every school child in Israel, where several streets are also named after her.Among her most famous poems are: StarsThere are stars whose radiance is visible on earth though they have long disappeared.There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world though they are no longer among the living.These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark.They light the way for humanity.Blessed is the MatchBlessed is the match consumed in kindling the flameBlessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heartBlessed is the heart with the strength to stop beating for honor’s sakeBlessed is the match consumed in kindling the flame Halicha L’Caesarea (Eli, Eli)Oh Lord, My God—Oh Lord, my God,I pray that these things never end:The sand and the sea,The rush of the waters,The crash of the heavens,The prayer of the heart. On the March of the Living, the legacy and memory of Hannah Senesh are honored each year the students return to Poland. Most recently, on the 2024 March of the Living, Eli, Eli was performed by Israeli singer, Noa Kirel,  a third generation to Holocaust survivors. Over 60 members of the Kirel family perished on the grounds of Auschwitz. 2024 March of the Living - Noa Kirel

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Remembering Yehuda Bauer (1926 – 2024)

Yehuda Bauer, perhaps the world’s foremost living historian of the Holocaust, and a recipient of the Israel Prize, passed away last week…

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Marking the Anniversary of the Sobibor Revolt

“Those of you who may survive, bear witness. Let the world know what has happened here.”  Gershon Willinger telling his…

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March of the Living Mourns the Passing of Holocaust Survivor Lily Ebert

Lily Ebert at her home in London, UK, in January 2024. (Photo credit: Adam Lawrence/March of the Living…

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October 9th – National Day Commemorating Holocaust in Romania

Date Marks Start of Romanian Deportations of Jews to Transnistria, Oct. 1941 October 9th is the National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust in Romania. This date was chosen as the…

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Remembering the Victims of the October 7th Terror Attack on Israel

STANDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL AND THE HOSTAGES

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Shana Tova U’Metuka to each of you, the Jewish People and All Israel

We pray for the coming year to be one of peace, unity and security for all. Reflecting on this past year, which…

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March held in Kyiv commemorating 83 years since Babyn Yar massacre in the Holocaust

On September 29-30, on the 83rd anniversary of the…

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