March of the Living: Day 3

Day 3 of the March of the Living in Poland [Thursday] - Marching!

Yom HaShoah v'HaGevurah [Holocaust Remembrance Day] is when the actual March of the Living from Auschwitz I to Birkenau takes place.

We started the day by first visiting two synagogues in the Krakow Jewish quarter. One was the Rama Synagogue and the other is the Alte Shul [the Old Synagogue]. Both were spectacular, filled with story after story, and really need to be experienced in person.

Again, it is so important to see how our people lived before we see how they died!

The day started our sunny but that would shift in ways that have never happened on any other March! We walked the few kilometers together as a group. We were blessed to be joined by another survivor, not of the Holocaust, but of the Nova Festival and October 7, 2023. Natalie Sanandaji.

In all, over 10,000 people for the March this year including 80 survivors. One survivor, Sami Steigmann, has been with our group from the start.

When we got to Birkenau, we left messages written on wooden packs on the train tracks. Thousands of others did likewise. We made our way to the official ceremony which was cut short because bad storms were approaching. As we concluded kaddish, a great thunder clap tang out as we were saying Amen.

And then the skies opened up with rain that could only be described in Biblical terms. Many remarked that it was as if God's heart was broken together with ours, with God's tears matching and surpassing the tears that were shed for over 8 decades at this site.

Each day on the March feels like a week of not longer. Neither the March nor the rains could have prepared us for the evening presentation we had with Peter Paltchik, Israeli Judoka and Bronze medalist in the 2024 Olympics. He spoke about his athletic career, being in Israel on October 7th, concerns about antisemitism and security at the Paris Olympics, and how he overcame injuries and defeats to emerge once again as a medal-winning athlete. Am Yisrael Chai!