This year’s March of the Living is historic in that it is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of World War II. It may also be the last time that Holocaust survivors will be physically able to participate. This year, the march is of vital importance, as rabid antisemitism becomes increasingly pervasive and makes us aware of how hatred develops into inhumanity. The March of the Living, which this year will include survivors of the Hamas massacre and hostages released from Gaza, is a reminder that Jews must remain eternally vigilant.
It was due to a failure in vigilance – albeit not on the part of the female soldiers assigned to surveillance, whose warnings were ignored – that Israel and the Jewish world continue to suffer the trauma of October 7, 2023.
The March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau was established in 1988 at the initiative of the late Abraham Hirshson, Shmuel Rosenman, and second-generation Holocaust survivor Baruch Adler.
Throughout the years, it has united Jews and non-Jews from around the world, including Holocaust survivors and their families, as well as adults and youth who come in their thousands to Poland. They have often stayed on for several days to go to other extermination and concentration camp sites, to learn more about the Holocaust, and to meet Righteous among the Nations or their descendants. Visitors hear from them of the sacrifices made by non-Jews to save the lives of Jews – some of whom they had not known before the war. Jews were not the only victims, others included Romani, political prisoners, homosexuals, and people with physical and mental disabilities.
Now headquartered in New York, The International March of the Living is headed by Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, and Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, chair and president respectively.
Organizers anticipate some 10,000 participants in this year’s march, which will be led by President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal, and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda when participants convene at Auschwitz on Thursday, April 24.
Prior to leaving for Poland, the Herzogs will attend the state Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem on Wednesday night.
The march this year will also pay tribute to the Allied forces led by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who witnessed the Nazi atrocities. His great-grandson Merrill Eisenhower will join the march, alongside Holocaust survivors who were freed by US and Allied troops - including Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, a former chief rabbi of Israel, who was a child survivor of Buchenwald and who personally met Gen. Eisenhower when the camp was liberated. Lau is a perennial participant in the March of the Living.
Herzog’s father, president Chaim Herzog, as an officer in the British Army, participated in the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The current president’s grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Herzog, met with Eisenhower in 1946 in his efforts to find and rescue Jewish child Holocaust survivors.
Leading the march alongside the presidents of Poland and Israel will be 40 Holocaust survivors from Israel, aged 80 to 97, including survivors of Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Dachau, and Theresienstadt, as well as those who survived the war in hiding or as partisans in the forests. They will be joined by another 40 survivors from around the world, making this one of the largest gatherings of living Holocaust survivors at Auschwitz in recent history.
Their triumph in survival will be emphasized by two and three generations of their families who will march with them.
Also among the participants are slated to be heads and senior staff of major companies and foundations in both the global and Israel’s tech ecosystem, including Fiverr, Wix, JFrog, Payoneer, Riskified, Matrix, Taboola, Qumra Capital, Pitango, and the Merit Spread Foundation.
Additional prominent figures include Ifat Ovadia-Luski, chair of KKL; Haim Taib, founder and president of the Menomadin Foundation; Pastor John Hagee and his wife Diana; philanthropist Marcelo Mindlin, chair of the Holocaust Museum in Argentina; and Yaakov Hagoel, chair of the World Zionist Organization.
Delegation of October 7 survivors and families to attend
The Menomadin Foundation will lead a special delegation of October 7 survivors and bereaved families, including freed hostages, bereaved families, and residents of the Gaza border communities. At the central ceremony in Birkenau, freed hostage Agam Berger will perform with Daniel Weiss, a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri whose parents were murdered on October 7. Berger will play a 130-year-old violin that survived the Holocaust and was brought to Israel.
Sharon Sharabi, who will march together with his brother, released hostage Eli Sharabi, stated: “It is a great privilege to participate in the March of the Living in Auschwitz this year, and despite the immense emotional and physical difficulty, it will be an important mission to cry out to the entire world the cry of our brothers who remain in Hamas tunnels and to demand that the world uphold its promise of ‘Never Again.’ The lives of Jews are not to be forsaken.”
Taib echoes this sentiment. “We cannot remain indifferent when we see the parallel lines between the horrors the Jewish people experienced in the Holocaust, the October 7 pogrom, and the terrible days of captivity,” he says.
Tzili Wenkert, grandmother of Omer Wenkert, who returned from captivity, enthuses: “I won twice – once against the Nazis and once against Hamas. I will march in the March of the Living as living proof that the Jewish people survive despite all attempts to destroy us.”
Michael Kuperstein, grandfather of Bar Kuperstein, who is still a hostage in Gaza: “I’ve lived a very difficult life and survived such hard times. I hear what those who returned are saying about the hostages, and it’s like a second Holocaust. Bar is only 23, just at the beginning of his life, with so much ahead of him. I’m 84, fighting today so that all my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have better lives. I want all the hostages to return home, so we can get our lives back.”
Daniel Weiss, who will perform alongside Agam Berger, said: “Standing on the stage at Birkenau is a profound and moving mission for me. Sharing this moment with Agam Berger, as she plays a violin that survived the Holocaust, is a powerful reminder of music’s ability to connect generations, to heal, and to preserve the stories that must never be forgotten.”
Hagoel noted: “As we mark 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, we face the memory of the Holocaust not only as a historical legacy but also as a moral call to action in the present and a foundation for shaping the future. The delegation of returnees, IDF wounded, and heads of authorities joining the March of the Living on behalf of the World Zionist Organization reflects the strength of the Zionist spirit – the one that rose from the ashes and builds life, society, and state. The presence of the president of the State of Israel and the president of Poland at this event underscores the shared responsibility to preserve memory, fight antisemitism, and educate future generations on the lessons of the past. This is not just a commitment to the memory of the victims – it is a commitment to life.”
Dr. Rosenman, chairman of the International March of the Living, said: “The horrific events of October 7 and the rise of antisemitism worldwide remind us how important it is to preserve our Jewish and Israeli identity, remember history, and work for a better world free of hatred and antisemitism. We will continue to educate about the Holocaust and to combat antisemitism on all fronts.”
Since the outbreak of the war, the Menomadin Foundation – which develops and implements ways to strengthen Israel’s social and economic resilience – has supported local authorities in the South and North, helping to enhance municipal and community recovery efforts.
In addition to those already mentioned, participants in the Menomadin delegation include: Ofer Wiener, father of Yehav Wiener from Kibbutz Kfar Aza who was murdered by Hamas, and son of Holocaust survivor Yosef Wiener, will march with Yehav’s widow Shaylee Atari; Merav Berger, mother of Agam and Agam’s twin sister Bar; rescued Gaza hostage Ori Megidish with her mother Margalit; released hostage Raaya Rotem of Kibbutz Be’eri; Malki and Shelly Shem Tov, parents of former hostage Omer; Faina and Michael Kuperstein, Holocaust survivors and grandparents of hostage Bar Kuperstein; released hostages: Hagar Brodetz, Meir Almog Jan (marching with his mother), Moran Stella Yanai, Gadi Moses (marching with daughter Moran), and Aviva and Keith Siegel (with their daughters), Shiri Weiss, and Chen Goldstein-Almog: Reuven and Vered Yablonka, parents of Hanan, who was murdered on October 7; Hanan and Rachel Tzarfati, parents of Ofir Tzarfati, who was shot, wounded and kidnapped from the Nova festival and whose body was returned to Israel; Ilana Aline Atias, mother of Amit Buskila, who was murdered by Hamas and whose body was returned; and Nissim and Amit Louk, father and brother of Shani Louk, who was murdered at the Nova music and then kidnapped. Her body was found and returned to Israel.
Key partners of the Menomadin Foundation in advancing national recovery and strengthening resilience who will also be marching, include: Yohanan Mali, director-general of the Negev, Galilee, and National Resilience Ministry; Einav Peretz, head of the Northern District at the Interior Ministry; Boaz Yosef, chairman of the Northern District Planning and Building Committee; Dror Lalush, CEO of the Kinneret Valleys Cluster; and Sigal Yaniv Feller, CEO of JFN.
The March is part of a broader educational journey that will culminate in Jerusalem on Israel Independence Day.