March of the Living 2012 - Report

From April 16th to 20th Christians for Israel International organized a trip to Poland for 27 Dutch, 3 Belgian and 6 Ukrainianian participants. During this special trip we visited the concentration camps of Auschwitz, studied Jewish life in Cracow and Oświęcim before World War II, and took part in the March of the Living. It was very impressive for us as friends of Israel to particpatein this March.

The March of the Living annually takes place on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day generally falls on the 27th day of Nissan of the Jewish calendar, this year on April 19th. Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated throughout the Jewish world as a solemn day of mourning and remembrance for the 6 million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

The March of the Living first took place in 1988. The march begins at Auschwitz I and from there it goes to Auschwitz-Birkenau. This year over 10,000 Jewish teens came from around the world to Auschwitz. They come back to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to show that death does not have the last word and that the Jewish people are alive!