Annual Auschwitz memorial march cancelled for first time
The traditional memorial march in Poland of Holocaust survivors and Jewish youth was, on Monday, cancelled for the first time, due to the outbreak coronavirus.
The march between the Auschwitz I and Birkenau death camps, which were operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, had been held for the past 32 years without interruption.
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According to Shmuel Rosenman, the head of the organisers of the march, after consulting with the relevant health bodies and officials, we are forced to announce the postponement of 2020 edition of the Living in Poland.
“Our primary concern is the health of the many participants and the Holocaust survivors, who would be joining them,’’ he said.
An average of 110 delegations from 40 countries, with survivors and more than 10,000 Jewish as well as non-Jewish youths from around the world, participate in the international event.
However, the organisers announced a new campaign encouraging youth across the world to combat anti-Semitism and racism with the theme: “Never Means Never”.
“Our educational message, especially in the face of rising anti-Semitism, will be communicated by other means this year,’’ Rosenman said.
Meanwhile, plans for re-scheduling the march in Poland later in the year were under way.
Traditionally, it has been held on Israel’s National Holocaust Remembrance Day, which falls on April 21, 2020.
To date, more than 300,000 participants from 52 countries have walked the 3.2-kilometre-long railroad tracks from Auschwitz to Birkenau.
More than 1.1 million men, women and children, most of them Jews, were murdered by Nazi Germany in the death camp.
