News
The Twentieth March of the Living
About six thousand young Jews from all over the world were joined by more than a thousand young Poles in the twentieth March of the Living, held on the Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day. At the sound of the shofar they set out from the Arbeit macht frei gate at the Auschwitz I site, as they do each year. They marched to the vicinity of the ruins of the gas chambers and crematoria at the Auschwitz II-Birkenau site, where the main observances were held.
Six symbolic candles were lighted at the monument to the victims of the camp. The young Jews came from various countries, some of them distant. "I am here to remember not to forget. In my opinion each Jew should come here and do the March of the Living," said Alejandro Kabachnik of Mexico. For a young man from Panama who was also named Alejandro, the March of the Living was equally important. "I am not a Jew," he said. "I am here to represent the non-Jews who remember what happened here."
At many points on the grounds of the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Birkenau, the participants in the March placed wooden tablets symbolizing matzevot—Jewish gravestones—bearing the names of people who were murdered. Many were left on the ramp where the Nazis carried out the selection of Jews transported from all over Europe. The kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, was said at the conclusion of the ceremony.
The March of the Living is part of an international educational project held in Poland and Israel. Groups spend almost a week visiting places connected with Jewish tradition and the Holocaust. The second part of the program takes place in Israel.
The March has been held since 1998 on Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom HaShoah), which falls on the 27th day of the month of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar and is organized by March of the Living International. The largest March to date was held in 2005 when twenty thousand people attended. So far, a total of more than 130,000 people have joined the Marches.
