UJS supported 25 students to join March of the Living UK along with 250 other participants just a few weeks ago. March of the Living UK takes participants on a journey through centuries of Polish Jewry in order to understand life before, during and after the Holocaust.
Bus C (the student bus) was led by UJS president Hannah Brady and Abby Hayton and were fortunate enough to have El’ad Pe’er and Yoav Heller, two incredibly devoted and knowledgeable educators. Students studying on campuses across the UK, Europe and America, and Israeli shinshinim living in London and Amsterdam joined together to create a diverse and enthusiastic group able to learn from each other and share thoughts and reflections.
Bus C (the student bus) was led by UJS president Hannah Brady and Abby Hayton and were fortunate enough to have El’ad Pe’er and Yoav Heller, two incredibly devoted and knowledgeable educators. Students studying on campuses across the UK, Europe and America, and Israeli shinshinim living in London and Amsterdam joined together to create a diverse and enthusiastic group able to learn from each other and share thoughts and reflections.
The students learnt about the thriving Polish Jewish community in the 10th Century with visits to the Warsaw cemetery, Lublin Yeshiva and the different synagogues in Krakow. Here they were able to learn about Jewish identity, how it evolved, and what being Jewish meant to Polish Jews.
Being present in Majdanek, Belzec and Auschwitz- Birkenau the group learnt about brave and heroic individuals, and the dilemmas that they were faced with in such death camps alongisde the Nazi’s plan for mass extermination. On the final day, March of the Living UK joined 11,000 other Jews from across the world to walk as one from Auschwitz to Birkenau.
The group were lucky enough to have spent the week with brave and inspirational survivors who recounted their testimonies and emphasised the importance of educating others and speaking out against injustice.
It is so important for students to be provided with the opportunity and to participate in such a complex and informative journey so that they, the next generation, are able to continue and share the knowledge and experience that they were involved in. The students formed strong bonds which will enable them to work together in the future after having experienced this journey together. UJS hopes and looks forward to supporting students in the many initiatives that they may have, whether it be a blog of reflexions, a poem, or an organised HMD at a university in order to commemorate, educate, explain and remember the Holocaust.
We look forward to involving even more students next year on March of the Living in order to equip the next generation with the knowledge they need to commemorate the Holocaust.
Originally published HERE
