A small group of around a dozen Holocaust survivors from Israel will join this year’s March of the Living memorial event in Poland, after the war with Iran forced organizers to cancel the Israeli delegation, which numbered some 1,500 people.
The participating Holocaust survivors, aged 90-100, will travel to join thousands of others from around the world as they march from Auschwitz to the Birkenau camp, the March of the Living organization said in a statement Sunday.
Two weeks ago, march organizers announced that the Israeli delegation would not be able to join the event due to sharp restrictions on air travel and safety concerns as Iran rained down missiles on Israeli cities during the ongoing war at the time. A shaky ceasefire between Israel, the US, and Iran was reached last week, bringing the attacks to a halt.
Each year that passes, concern grows over the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors still alive to tell their stories.
The statement said that participation by the Holocaust survivors was made possible due to contributions from 26 high-tech companies and venture capital funds, which stepped in to help.
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“The recent war with Iran was further evidence that the State of Israel must stand firm. Despite the limitations imposed by the war, the delegation will march in Poland and instill in us the spirit of pride and victory,” said Shmuel Rosenman, chair of the International March of the Living.
Commemorative plaques are seen on a rail track leading to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp in Poland, during the annual March of The Living on April 24, 2025. (Photo by Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFP)
The Israeli delegation will join around 40 other survivors from around the world for the event, which will be held on Tuesday, when Israel marks its Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Some 7,000 people from around the world are expected to take part in the march.
Among those who will lead the march are survivors of shooting attacks on Jews in 2025: Eva Weitzen survived the Hanukkah terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney in December, when two gunmen killed 15, including her husband, Tibor Weitzen; Yoni Finlay was wounded in a Yom Kippur terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester in October; and Catherine Zikof and Avi Talmud, two employees of the Israeli consulate in Washington, who both survived a May 2025 shooting that killed two other employees, Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky.
Rabbi Yossi Friedman speaks to people gathering at a flower memorial by the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach on December 16, 2025, following the deadly terror shooting targeting a Hanukkah event in Sydney, Australia. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
This year’s events are being held under the theme of campaigning against antisemitism, which has ballooned globally since October 7, 2023, when Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel, sparking war in the Gaza Strip.
“Hatred of Jews is raising its ugly head,” said World Jewish Congress in Israel president Sylvan Adams, who will lead the march, in the statement. “We will march to turn memory into a clear commitment to action, and to say in a loud voice: we will not bow our heads to antisemitism.”
At a closing event, Holocaust survivor Irene Shashar, former Hamas hostages Omri Miran and Agam Berger, and Rabbi Shmuel Slotky, who lost two sons on October 7, will light a torch on behalf of the State of Israel.
Former hostage Agam Berger and her brother at the March of the Living on April 24, 2025 (Yossi Zeleger/March of the Living)
Other participants in the march will include a delegation of 130 law enforcement officials and police chiefs from around the world who will commit to action against hate crimes and antisemitism.
Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities.
According to the Ynet outlet, the homes of more than 50 Holocaust survivors in Israel were damaged by missiles from Iran or Lebanon.
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