Some 7, 000 people are to take part in this year’s March of the Living from the brick barracks of the former Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz to the crematoria of Birkenau. 

On 2 May young Jews from around the world will be joined by about 2, 000 Poles.

The Rabbi of Israel Meir Lau and a group of Israeli parliamentarians are expected to participate. In line with a long-standing tradition, they will be led by Holocaust survivors and the march will start with the wail of the Jewish ram’s horn, the shofar, which symbolises freedom.

The annual March  of the Living was launched in 1988 and is primarily an educational project coinciding with the Holocaust Memorial Day (Yom-ha Shoah).  

In 2005, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the event attracted 20, 000 people and official delegations from almost fifty countries.

Prominent politicians who have taken part in the March of the Living include Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Israeli Presidents  Ezer Weizman, Moshe Kacaw and Shimon Peres, Polish Prime Ministers  Jerzy Buzek and Marek Belka, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

Over 1.1 million people perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau, mostly European Jews, but also Poles, Roma, Soviet POWs and representatives of other nationalities. (mk)