News

The Tenth March of the Living. Yom Ha-Shoa in Auschwitz

In line with tradition, the tenth March of the Living was held on Yom Ha-Shoa, Holocaust Victims Commemoration Day, which fell on Thursday, April 19, this year. As on previous occasions, participants included young Jewish people from all over the world, and especially from Israel, the USA, Canada, and Europe.

This year more than 1,500 people, including survivors of the Nazi camps, walked more than three kilometers along the trail to Birkenau from the "Arbeit macht frei" gate at the site of the Auschwitz camp. Among the marchers were more than 500 young Poles, as well as local government officials and a group of Polish parliamentarians. The Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, was recited near the ruins of the crematorium at the Birkenau site.

First held in 1988, the March of the Living is an Israeli education ministry program. Participation by Polish young people has been growing for several years.