Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

(JNS)-More than 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish youth from 40 countries and dozens of Holocaust survivors and dignitaries from around the globe participated in the 31st annual International March of the Living, which began on Thursday, May 2. The nearly two-mile march from Auschwitz to Birkenau is a tribute to all victims of the Holocaust and a call for an end to anti-Semitism.

For the first time, the event's main ceremony recalled Greek Jewry, which was almost completely annihilated by the Nazis and their collaborators.

Greece sent a distinguished delegation to the march: Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, the leader of tens of millions of Orthodox Christians around the globe; and Nikos Voutsis, the Speaker of the Greek Parliament.

U.S. officials attending included U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, U.S. Ambassador to Poland Georgette Mosbacher, and Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr.

However, the most senior Israelis on the trip were Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon and Jewish Agency head Isaac Herzog, reported The Times of Israel on Tuesday.

No Polish officials attended.

This is reportedly due to tensions between the two countries following the passing of a law by Poland in 2018 criminalizing the blaming of Poland for any responsibility for Nazi crimes. In response to backlash from Israel and others, Poland amended the law, making such offenses no longer punishable by imprisonment.

On the day of last year's march Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda that although Poles helped save Jews during the Holocaust, they also aided and abetted their annihilation.

In February, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in an interview, "I am the son of Holocaust survivors. We will never forgive and never forget, and there were many Poles who collaborated with the Nazis."

Quoting former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Katz added: "Shamir said every Pole suckled anti-Semitism with his mother's milk. Nobody will tell us how to express our stance and how to honor the dead."

These remarks were made after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Warsaw summit earlier this year on the Mideast that Poles cooperated with Nazis during the Holocaust and that no one has been sued for asserting this truth, as he criticized Poland's Holocaust Law that forbids accusing Poland of complicity with the Nazis under the penalty of law.

A mere 380,000 Polish Jews out of 3.3 million survived World War II and the Holocaust.

Mosbacher called on Israel to apologize to Poland for Katz's comments.

'Put an end to the hate, fear and loss'

Nonetheless, in response to the torrent of anti-Semitic events and growing global trend of hate crimes against Jews over the last two years, the March of the Living hosted the first-ever "Emerging Leadership Conference" in Krakow ahead of the march for hundreds of youth from around the world who have been impacted by anti-Semitism.

During the conference, 20 youth representatives-Jewish and non-Jewish-signed an official declaration to launch the campaign, a rallying and defiant call to other youth to commemorate the Holocaust and help put an end to anti-Semitism before history repeats itself.  The youth leaders will then heavily promote the campaign via social-media platforms under the hashtag #SayNoToAntisemitism.

It came in the same week as the attack on Chabad of Poway in Southern California on April 27.

"The awful, senseless murder in Poway, California, is just the latest in a seemingly endless string of violent anti-Semitic events-one of the most challenging periods in recent memory for the international Jewish community," said March of the Living founder and co-chairman Shmuel Rosenman.

"This murder coincides with the kickoff to a week during which we honor the victims of the Holocaust, one of the greatest tragedies in human history, an affront to humanity that was born out of virulent anti-Semitism," he continued. "Our world leaders must pay attention to the warning signs and do everything in their power to combat anti-Semitism in all its forms.

"Thousands of people will be marching from Auschwitz to Birkenau to remind them of their responsibility to put an end to the hate, fear and loss."