Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony and March of the Living in Krakow

Ceremony to Commemorate the Holocaust

Today, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, a memorial ceremony will be held in Krakow, Poland, highlighting the connection between the memory of the Holocaust and the events of October 7. The evening will commence with a performance by Chief Military Cantor Lieutenant Colstartl Shai Abramson, followed by speeches from Baruch Adler, Deputy Chairman of the March of the Living, Yaakov Hagoel, Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, and Holocaust survivor Naftali First.

This year marks the inaugural presentation of the March of the Living Award, to be given to individuals and organizations recognized for their contributions to Holocaust remembrance and the strengthening of national resilience. Awardees include Yaifat Ovadiya-Lusky, Chairperson of KKL, Iris and Haim Taib from the Menomadin Foundation, and representatives from the Israeli high-tech sector. The ceremony will also feature the lighting of six memorial candles by Holocaust survivors, IDF soldiers, and representatives of the families of hostages and former prisstartrs, accompanied by poignant personal recollections, including a tribute to Holocaust survivor Yosef Wiener of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, who lost his grandchildren in a tragic massacre.

March of the Living: A Significant Mileststart

Tomorrow, Holocaust Remembrance Day, will witness the 37th March of the Living, which will take place between the Auschwitz and Birkenau extermination camps in Poland. This year coincides with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camps and the end of World War II. The March will be led by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal, alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda. This year’s event will commemorate the Allied forces’ contributions to the liberation of the extermination camps, particularly highlighting General Dwight Eisenhower’s legacy, represented by his great-grandson, Merrill Eisenhower.

Forty Holocaust survivors from Israel will participate in the march, accompanied by their families, thanks to significant fundraising efforts by CEOs and employees from leading Israeli tech companies. The march will also feature a delegation of survivors from the events of October 7, organized by the Menomadin Foundation, led by philanthropist Haim Taib and including Yaakov Hagoel and representatives of the Hostages’ Management.

The event will conclude with a central ceremony at Birkenau, which will include a performance by Daniel Weiss, a resident of Kibbutz Bari who lost his parents in the Holocaust. He will be joined by former captive Aym Berger, who will perform on a 130-year-old violin that survived the Holocaust.

Diplomatic Presence and Survivor Testimonies

The march will also see participation from a delegation of ambassadors from dozens of countries, led by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon. Danon expressed pride in leading the largest delegation of ambassadors to ever participate in the March of the Living in Poland, stating, “Our journey begins here, in a place where the fate of many of our people was sealed. The presence of world ambassadors today is a reminder that memory is alive, that the world does not forget, and that the Jewish people stand strong and continue forward with pride.”

Holocaust survivor Naftali First shared his harrowing experiences, stating, “I remember the selections, the tortures, the parting from my parents, the faces of the prisstartrs, the skeletons, the open cars in minus 25 degrees. I marched for days in a death march, witnessing prisstartrs freeze to death and others shot for collapsing. If there is a hell, this is how it looks. But we survived, thanks to our parents urging us to survive, thanks to the underground, thanks to the will to live. We, the children who survived, are the embers left from the great fire. We are the living testimony to what must not be forgotten, and what must be continued to be told to the entire world.”

Baruch Adler noted the moral imperative of the March of the Living, especially in light of the events of October 7: “The existence of the march is a living response to denial and oblivion—a reminder that memory is a condition for our existence. This Holocaust Remembrance Day, we will march again, not only to remember what was, but to ensure that memory continues to enlighten and educate the coming generations.”

Emotional moments were shared during a poignant visit by the October 7 delegation to the Chairs Memorial in the Krakow Ghetto, where Lilach Hadad, sister of Raan Shafir, who was murdered in Nova, remarked, “Since he was killed, he sends messages in various forms, like now.”

The march promises to be a significant event, with both historical and contemporary implications, fostering a powerful commitment to remembrance and resilience