The March of the Living took place Thursday at the former Auschwitz death camp, bringing together thousands to remember victims of the Holocaust. The annual event was attended by the Polish and Israeli presidents, along with Holocaust survivors and Israeli survivors of Hamas captivity.
Participants walked the traditional three-kilometer route leading from the infamous "Arbeit macht frei" gate at Auschwitz to the Birkenau site, where the ruins of crematoria stand. The gathering included many Israeli youth, wrapped in national flags.
The event held particular resonance this year, connecting the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II with the October 7 massacre and subsequent captivity by Hamas. Survivors of both eras walked side-by-side, sharing their experiences of persecution and survival.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, spoke to reporters ahead of the march. They described their presence as part of an effort to stand against rising antisemitism globally.
The Nazi German forces operated the camp in occupied Poland, killing approximately 1.1 million people, the vast majority of them Jews from across Europe. Poles, Roma, and others also perished there. The camp was liberated by the Soviet Red Army on Jan. 27, 1945. The 80th anniversary was marked at the site earlier this year.
Israeli survivors of the Hamas attack and those held hostage in the Gaza Strip joined the delegation, drawing parallels between historical and recent violence targeting Jews. The imagery of Nazi cattle cars used to transport Jews was invoked alongside the Hamas jeeps and trucks used to abduct Israelis.
One survivor of Hamas captivity, Moran Stella Yanai, who was held for weeks, shared her perspective near the site. Despite enduring severe suffering, she focuses on rebuilding her life.
She spoke about the ongoing path to healing for survivors and their families, stating her refusal to let her captors dictate her future.
"I will live, design, dance, laugh, and love," Moran Stella Yanai said.
