'We will rise from the ashes': Holocaust, Oct. 7 survivors to go on March of the Living

35th March of the living 2023

In the first such event since October 7, the International March of the Living, a global Holocaust remembrance education organization, will hold two significant marches in May 2024 under the title “Together We Remember,” according to a Thursday press release.

The March of the Living is an educational program that brings students from different places to Poland to learn about and commemorate the Holocaust. The eponymous march takes place on Holocaust Memorial Day – in Hebrew, Yom HaShoah – where thousands of people march in silence from Auschwitz to the Birkenau Death Camp. Since it started in 1988, over 300,000 participants have participated in the march.

On May 6, 2024, for the 36th march, fifty-five Holocaust Survivors from different countries, including those who were also victims of Hamas’ October 7 attacks, will take part in the march.

A second march will take place in Budapest to commemorate eighty years since the destruction of Hungarian Jewry.

Remembering the Holocaust of Hungarian Jews

The March of the Living, KKL-JNF in Israel, the Jewish Agency and the Hungarian Jewish Heritage Foundation MAZSOK will hold a joint conference in Budapest on the topic of the Holocaust of Hungarian Jewry.

March of the Living, 2023 (credit: Yossi Zeliger, March of the Living 2023)

March of the Living, 2023 (credit: Yossi Zeliger, March of the Living 2023)

The route of the march

The march will begin at Dohany Synagogue, next to the birthplace of the founder of modern Zionism, Theodore Herzl, and will be led by eighty Hungarian Holocaust survivors and joined by thousands more.

The march will conclude with a ceremony at the Keleti Train Station, the site of the first deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the ceremony, the “Train of the Living” will head to Auschwitz, replicating the route of the original death transports from Hungary to Poland.

According to Yad Vashem, at the time of Germany’s occupation of Hungary in 1944, the Jewish population was over 800,000 strong. In just eight weeks, between May and July 1944, over 434,000 Hungarian Jews were deported, mostly to Auschwitz, where about eighty percent were gassed on arrival.

In total, more than 550,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the Holocaust, according to Yad Vashem. Around 15,000 people were murdered per day and tens of thousands were executed on the banks of the Danube in Budapest.

Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, Chairman, and Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, President of the International March of the Living, jointly stated, “This year’s March of the Living holds profound significance, as the horrors of the past intertwine with the present ongoing nightmare faced by the State of Israel. The recent incomprehensible massacre on October 7 serves as a constant reminder of the persistent threat posed by antisemitic hatred. This year, more than ever, we understand why preserving the memory of the Holocaust is still essential. We will strenuously continue to teach about the history of the Holocaust, and we will continue to stand together against antisemitism.”

Among the 55 Holocaust survivors leading the march are 21 Holocaust survivors from Hungary and seven survivors who were personally impacted by the October 7 attack in Israel. These are Bellha Haim, grandmother of the murdered hostage Yotam Haim; Danit Gabay, who was with her children in Kibbutz Re’im during the attack; Daniel Louz from Kibbutz Be’eri; Smil Bercu Sacagiu whose home was bombed in Ashkelon; Judith Tzamir from Kibbutz Mefalsim; Jacqueline Gliksman from Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha, and Zili Wenkert, grandmother of Omer Wenkert, who was abducted from the Nova music festival and remains in captivity.

Bellha Haim said, “I was born in Poland and survived the Holocaust.  I never imagined that I would visit Auschwitz, but since Yotam marched there, I will march in his footsteps.”

In their footsteps

Several former Hamas hostages will march alongside the Holocaust survivors, as well as hostage families and wounded survivors.

“The link between the Holocaust, experienced by Jews 80 years ago and the horrors of the onslaught of October 7 underscores our collective obligation as a nation and society to remain resilient, to defend ourselves and to continue shaping the remarkable narrative of our people,” said Haim Taib, Founder and President of the Menomadin Foundation and leader of the October 7 delegation to the March. “I take pride in marching alongside the courageous individuals of the October 7 delegation.”

“Together, we will rise from the ashes of this horrific attack and foster prosperity and abundance in the years ahead.”