Thousands of young Jews from around the world joined Holocaust survivors and politicians Thursday for an annual Holocaust remembrance march in southern Poland that focuses on fighting anti-Semitism and hatred.
About 10,000 marchers carrying Israeli flags and “Say NO to anti-Semitism” banners joined the annual March of the Living, which follows a 3-kilometer (1.8 mile) route between the two parts of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp operated by German Nazis in the occupied town of Oswiecim and nearby Brzezinka.
At the former site of Birkenau, where Jews from around Europe were brought by train and killed in gas chambers during 1942-45, participants placed wooden signs with the names of relatives who died in the Holocaust on the remaining train tracks.
Holocaust survivor Edward Mosberg, 93, said he has a duty to keep telling the world about the tragedy of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed.
Standing at the monument to the victims, near the ruins of the Birkenau gas chambers where his mother died, Mosberg said he and his wife lost their entire families in the Holocaust.
At Auschwitz with Edward Mosberg, a 96 year old survivor and inside the crematorium. We will never forgive, we will never forget. pic.twitter.com/0DEEx1X1hZ
— Ambassador Jack Lew (@USAmbIsrael) May 2, 2019
Thousands of participants will march today between the sites of former Auschwitz I & Auschwitz II-Birkenau camps during @MOTLorg. Before the march, groups of youth visit @AuschwitzMuseum & learn the history of the German Nazi camp. See our virtual visit: https://t.co/K5ahbXEaOf pic.twitter.com/Shgg4sEvPH
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 2, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q8k8W_jjS4
Former Israeli opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog, meanwhile, urged world leaders to fight anti-Semitism and prevent a repetition of attacks on Jews like one last month in San Diego, California.
The march, which began in 1988, takes place every year on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Six U.S. ambassadors, including Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman and Georgette Mosbacher, the ambassador to Poland, were among the international diplomats at the march. Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, also attended.
An estimated 1.1 million people died at Auschwitz-Birkenau during Nazi Germany’s brutal World War II occupation of Poland. Most victims were European Jews but also Polish resistance members, Roma and Russian prisoners of war.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMViZjysAPg
Completed the Death March to Birkenau with survivor Rabbi Israel Meir Lau; carried a Torah rescued from the death camp. Then lit the 6th Memorial Torch with Amb Grenell. No words to capture the feelings. pic.twitter.com/LKNdL1mOVi
— Ambassador Jack Lew (@USAmbIsrael) May 2, 2019
74 years ago this week, my father & thousands of other survivors were liberated from Nazi concentration camps. I was privileged to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s new Auschwitz exhibit. It was a deeply meaningful way to commemorate Yom HaShoah. I encourage others to visit. pic.twitter.com/K77g3L5z5J
— Chaim Deutsch (@ChaimDeutsch) May 1, 2019
We need to remember that Auschwitz happened not long ago and not far away.
Our responsibility for the world today is the same as then.
Visit @auschwitzxhibit at @MJHnews in New York to learn about the past & reflect on how to build a better future.https://t.co/GCm35Is1nj pic.twitter.com/J3fTQBtOYJ
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) May 1, 2019
(AP)
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2 Responses
We shouldn’t be going to Poland. More importantly, not a dime should be going to the polish economy. Go to Israel for inspiration. Why do so many Jews tolerate abuse?
@1 March of the Living goes to Poland, and the EY. It’s a powerful experience primarily for teens and college students. This becomes particularly critical as time passes, as many millennials don’t even know what the Holocaust was.