Thousands join March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau

Y Net News  By Michal Margalit Annual event, now in its 27th year, includes delegations from 45 countries, each accompanied by a Holocaust survivor. Thousands of people from around the world arrived in Poland on Thursday for the annual March of the Living walk from the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz to the nearby Birkenau camp, as part of Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day. March of the Living in Auschwitz (Photo: EPA) This year, people from more than 45 countries will take part in the event, with delegations from the United States, Canada, UK, Mexico, Panama, Greece, Australia, Morocco, France, Austria, Argentina, Brazil and South Africa. Each delegation was to be accompanied by a Holocaust survivor who was to tell their own personal story. Now in its 27th year, the March of the Living has been performed by more than 220,000 people. The marchers will work 3.2 km from Auschwitz to the nearby Birkenau camp. Following the two-hour march, a ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust will take place. "It's hard to say how many people are here," Yoram Dori, spokesman for the March of the Living, told Ynet ahead of the march. "But there are thousands here. At the head of the march, just like every year, will be Chairman of Yad Vashem and the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, himself a Holocaust survivor. He will be joined by dignitaries from Israel and abroad." The march this year will mark 70 years to the end of World War II and the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army. An Austrian delegation will join the marchers this year, led by Austrian Education Minister Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek. Other members of the Austrian delegation will include the Second President of the Austrian National Council, Karlheinz Kopf, the head of the Greens party, Dr. Eva Glawischnig, and Susanne Brandsteidl, Executive President of the Vienna Board of Education. They will be accompanied by 300 Austrian teenagers who are not Jewish. "The Austrian delegation is here to show that the education system in the country has been teaching the lessons learned from the Holocaust and the Holocaust topic in general over the past few years," Dori said. "Yesterday, there was a ceremony in Krakow, where the Austrian education minister explained they feel an obligation to participate in the March of the Living. They introduced the topic of the Holocaust to their curriculum as part of the country's fight against anti-Semitism and racism." The US administration sent its Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council, Keith Harper, to the March of the Living. Harper is a Native American of the Cherokee Tribe and is considered close to President Barack Obama. "Jewish teenagers from all over the world are taking part in the march," Dori said. "They come to Poland for a week for a tour of the extermination camps and other Jewish sites and then return to Israel, as a symbol of the transition from the Holocaust to the liberation, and see Israel's accomplishments, participate in a memorial service for IDF soldiers and then celebrate Independence Day with a march in Jerusalem." "Those who have yet to see the joy on Independence Day of the teens who participated in the March of the Living a week before, have not seen true joy," Dori added. "You can see Jewish teenagers in the March of the Living wrapped in Israeli flags, looking inwards and sad as they're exposed for the first time to the shacks (in the camp), see the suitcases of Jews with their name tags, the Jews' shoes and other items, and you can't stay indifferent to that."

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Team MOTL has 5 Spots in the 2013 New York Marathon

We are very excited to announce that the March of the Living International is an Official Charity Partner for the 2013 New York Marathon! We have 5 coveted spots for…

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Project6Million

You experienced something unique and powerful in your MOTL experience, which only those who have done it can truly understand. We know that feeling, as do thousands of others who have experienced MOTL like you did. It’s a powerful shift, which you’ll want to come back to in you over and over. Here’s where that begins, along with all the other marchers who have experienced it. What is Project6Million? A channel for participants to turn their life-changing experience into an active commitment, impact and inspiration they can share with the world. It’s an interactive, online, global Holocaust remembrance initiative unlike any other. It’s a way for MOTL participants to take a stand from the lessons they’re learning in Poland and Israel, while sharing their commitment to creating a world without the hatred and intolerance that caused the Holocaust. They can inspire a generation to choose differently with even the smallest statement – make a moment to take a stand. It’s easy for you and your delegation to get involved. As you reflect with your group through MOTL, ask them to think about each of our individual roles in perpetuating the message beyond the camps. Go to project6million.org, see the statements of Marchers and people all over the world, and then… take a stand to honor the six million Jewish men, women and children taken in the Holocaust by giving your own statement of commitment to standing up against hatred and intolerance. Your statement will be shared on the project's website and will make a powerful impact for many around the world.  With every 2015 marcher making a statement, an important shift will happen in turning their transformative experience of MOTL into thousands of personal commitments to the world. From there, we share it with others and together, we, as MOTL alumni around the world, can build and spread a global movement of awareness and people dedicated to a better world out of our shared experience. If we do not empower the conversation after the experience, then we have failed.     Together we can go beyond never again, to create a world where tolerance trumps hate. Declare your voice, make your statement, become part of the movement. Make a moment now to take a stand.

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MOTL Partnerships for Alumni Relations: Project6Million

MOTL is partnering to bring a new alumni follow-up process to every participant and supporter this year and beyond. Project6Million, started by alumni from the 2011 Cincinnati MOTL Delegation,…

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Life After The March: Finding The Silver Lining By Miriam Spitz Kahan

My journey began 16 years ago. I was one of thousands who took part in The March of The Living in Poland. I’m still haunted by the memories of what I witnessed. On the day we walked from Auschwitz to Birkenau, in the footsteps of those who were led to their deaths, I remember seeing the numerous Israeli Flags lining the streets, being held in the hands of 5,000 Jews from all over the world and it sparked a flame in my heart. A flag that symbolizes the dream of so many of the millions who perished was there in Poland, waving proudly against the backdrop of the camps where they were murdered, a flag that continues to represent the that dream fulfilled. As with all March of the Living Alumni, while my time in Poland has stayed with me forever, it raised many questions. Reviewing the daily journal that I have kept all these years, I cannot help but think back to those days in Poland. These are some excerpts from the journal: On the plane home: As I sat on the plane returning home, I tried to wrap my mind around the reality that awaited me. How am I going to handle being home? How will I be able to share my experience with people who have no idea of what I’ve seen? It seemed as if my faith and spirit have disappeared in the wake of the horrors that remain with me. All that I know has been turned upside-down. Everyone else is happy to be home. Not me. I don’t know where I belong. What am I to do? I can’t come to terms with what I saw, with how I feel. After 1 month:It is hard for me to honestly describe my transition. But I’m starting to feel detached from my memories, from those souls who perished. My feelings of loss and despair have started to fade. I don’t allow my memories to haunt my every thought, my every move. I do wish that they would. I feel like a sell-out because I’m not remembering every minute, every second those who perished. I wish that I could force myself to mourn openly. I remember touching the walls of the gas chamber at Auschwitz. I look at the stone I took from the ground at Auschwitz and I try to smash it between my fingers, but it is too strong, like the Nazis – completely indestructible. How did the survivors cope with survival? With a return to a world that would never understand what they endured, what they witnessed, and the pain they live with having lost everything and everyone they loved? These questions, and so many more, were just waiting to be answered. But there was a silver lining to the despair I was feeling. I knew that I would be heading back to Israel that summer. I was able to return to the one home where Jews are safe to be Jewish, unlike those who perished in the Holocaust. I fulfilled the old dream, the 2,000 year old dream. “The old dream of a return to a land where we could belong, where we could live free from the hatred and persecution that plagued our existence in Europe...For the Jews who perished, it is in their memory that we must cherish and protect our one and only Jewish State," said Dr. Elana Heideman Executive Director of The Israel Forever Foundation and Holocaust Educator. It was hard for me to comprehend this notion after visiting Israel from Poland as my mind was still closed to the hope, the happiness, the reality of Israel. That summer, I was able to break down the stone wall around my heart and let in the beauty, the hope and the reality of Israel. Tears for all the six million fell as I touched the Kotel (The Western Wall) and left a message asking all the questions needing answers. As I look back on my experience with The March of The Living, I wished there was a global community such as Virtual Citizen’s of Israel™ for all March of The Living alumni that I could have spoken to, listened to, shared my thoughts, my loneliness. Today I am proud to be a part of an organization that is reaching out to those who participated on The March of The Living, whether it was this year, 16 or 25 years ago. Now you can feel a sense of belonging with others who shared your experience and who long for a way to actualize the commitment to the memory of those who perished. Now, you can declare your pride and become a March of The Living Virtual Citizen of Israel™ and know that, together, we carry on a legacy the victims and survivors of the Holocaust would be proud of. Join us so that you too, can remember and reflect what these memories mean for those who did survive, and for us, the next generation who will carry on their legacy as their witness to the witness.

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Video & Transcript: President Shimon Peres – Message – 2013 March of the Living Auschwitz-Birkenau on Yom Hashoah

My friends: There are marches which are measured by the length of the journey. There are marches which are measured by time. You are…

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‘We won’t be calmed,’ Peres tells March of Living participants

Participants in the March of the…

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Dan Kanter, Justin Bieber’s Musical Director and Guitar Player, Takes Emotional Visit to Auschwitz

Dan Kanter, musical director and guitar player for Justin Bieber, made an emotional visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau earlier this week during Justin Bieber’s 2013 European Believe Tour stop in Poland. The trip…

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Filling the Gaps in Israel’s Holocaust Reading List

Haaretz By Amos Goldberg Many pivotal works about the Holocaust remain inaccessible to Hebrew readers, particularly those that don’t fit the Israeli national narrative. As a result, Israelis miss out…

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Churchill Teen Makes March of the Living

Churchill resident Hannah Frank appears to be a typical 17-year-old girl. She is a senior and high honor student at Woodland Hills High School, participates in the…

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