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Keeping the ame of memory alive WHEN YOU LISTEN TO A WITNESS YOU BECOME A WITNESS ELIE WIESEL 1928 2016

International March of the Living Honors the Memory of Joseph Wilf Z L 1925 2016 J oseph was born January 10 1925 in Jaroslaw Poland and survived World War II with much of his family in a Siberian labor camp before emigrating to the United States In addition to his entrepreneurial success Wilf was a highly respected leader donor board member and active volunteer in numerous organizations including Yeshiva University American Society for Yad Vashem United Jewish Appeal Israel Bonds Jewish Agency for Israel Joint Distribution Committee Conference on Material Claims Against Germany US Holocaust Memorial Museum and many other organizations Joseph Wilf served as the first North American President of March of the Living Since its inception in 1988 over 250 000 students survivors and educators have participated in March of the Living to Poland and Israel Wilf s visionary philanthropy enabled hundreds of thousands of young people to experience the history and destiny of the Jewish people learn the lessons of the Shoah and strengthen their connection to their Jewish identity the Jewish people and the State of Israel Wilf s dedication to Holocaust remembrance his life long support of Holocaust education and his love for the Jewish people and the State of Israel deserve our unending admiration May his memory be for a blessing and serve to inspire others to such noble acts of tzedaka and Ahavat Yisrael JOSEPH WILF COURTESY

A special Jerusalem Report supplement TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 Remembring Joseph Wilf z l A moving tribute to a generous benefactor philanthropist and humanitarian 5 Planting the Seeds of Tomorrow Jordana Lebowitz reflects on her experiences with March of the Living 6 The time has come for world leaders to stand up against antisemitism Dr Shmuel Rosenman says that European and world leaders need to take a firm stand against antisemitism By David Brummer 8 Marching in the future Greetings from Phyllis Greenberg Heiderman Chair of March of the Living International Advisory Board 9 Taking ownership of our story Education Minister and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett entreats us to actively remember the Holocaust 10 Virulent antisemitism has returned to Europe Supreme Court Justice Miriam Naor says that a country s citizenry and all its branches of government must heed the warnings of history to guarantee liberty for all 12 Preserving the Memory of the Holocaust through Education in Austria Austrian Education Minister Sonja Hammerschmid explains how her country approaches Holocaust education By David Brummer 22 Elie Wiesel A gentle giant A moving tribute from Elie Wiesel s community rabbi highlighting both his mischievousness and his commitment and passion for the Jewish people By Rabbi Yaakov Y Kermaier 24 Combating the anti Zionist facade Elisha Wiesel talks about his father Elie and how his message of dialogue and bridge building is more important than ever By David Brummer 26 Fighting a loss of shame about antisemitism Critics of Jews and Israel are no longer inhibited by feelings of shame for their views says Kenneth Jacobson 28 March of the Living Photo Gallery A gallery of images from the March of the Living over the years 30 Humanity s March from Nuremberg to Today Prof John Q Barrett discusses the importance of providing evidence in proving the truth about Nazi crimes and securing justice for their victims 32 The Only Survivor of Tycochin By Yaacov Sultan 34 Reflections From The Past Previous participants look at what the March of the Living means for them 14 Survivors Stories Three Survivors provide moving accounts of their wartime experiences and participation in the March of the Living Editor David Brummer 18 2017 March of the Living Survivors Photo Gallery A gallery of images of the Survivors taking part in this year s March of the Living Business Development Reut Levy Laursen Front Cover Photo Eve Pinchevsky of Toronto PHOTO BY STACEY WINTRE COURTESY OF MARCH OF THE LIVING CANADA MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 Graphic Designer Hana Ben Amo Barbara Andrieux 3

The March of the Living brings Then on Holocaust Remembrance Day the students Holocaust survivors educators students march arm in arm with Holocaust and distinguished leaders from all over the survivors from Auschwitz to Birkenau They world to Poland to commemorate Holocaust are joined by thousands of other people of Remembrance Day goodwill of diverse backgrounds and faiths In Poland their program includes visits to once as they march side by side in memory of all thriving sites of Jewish life and culture as well victims of Nazi genocide and against prejudice as sites of Jewish persecution and martyrdom intolerance and hate From Poland many participants travel to Israel the birthplace and homeland of the Jewish People where they commemorate Israel s fallen soldiers on Yom Hazikaron and celebrate Israel s independence on Yom Ha atsmaut Since the first March of the Living in 1988 over 250 000 youth from around the world have marched down the same path leading from Auschwitz to Birkenau On April 24 2017 ten thousand participants will march from Auschwitz to Birkenau to proclaim WE ARE HERE AND NEVER AGAIN

Thousands of March of the Living participants walk toward Birkenau YOSSI ZELIGER Planting the Seeds of Tomorrow By JORDANA LEBOWITZ F ive years ago I took steps of freedom on tainted soil with 10 000 others from all over the world Five years ago I declared with my very existence and the thriving of my people that we won Five years ago I participated in the March of the Living and it has shaped my life ever since It has been almost a year since I arrived at the court s doors to witness one of the last Nazi trials in history Four years in jail was the sentence placed on Oskar Gr ning s head for his role as an accessory to murder in 300 000 cases at the Auschwitz concentration camp Four years Will four years mend the broken hearts of millions Will four years pick up the shattered pieces of all that was lost Can four years in jail return any goodness to the world that Groening himself and others like him sucked from its very core The jail time cannot but we can The trial wasn t as much about achieving justice for the survivors in the shadow of all the loved ones lost as much as it was sending a message to the world a message that those who breed hatred and intolerance will not go unchecked A message to those who commit crimes no matter how far in the past that there will be consequences A message to all genocidal victims you are not alone Additionally it was a message and a challenge to the younger generation What will you do All that was lost remains lost No length of jail time can bring loved ones back But we the generation of gadgets and gizmos of smartphones and social media can ensure that such atrocities never again transpire Our ancestor s voices were shattered during the Holocaust and those belonging to many bystanders were never utilized Now is the time to harness our freedom to speak to teach to tolerate and to stand for justice in every realm We are one human nation with one beating heart We are responsible for each other As a psychology student I think back to when my ancestors took their first steps on foreign soil bent and broken both emotionally and physically after the dark years of World War II Every ounce of remaining strength was MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 tapped forcing the door closed on their traumas straining against being sucked into the inferno of despair planting seeds of hope in their bones so that they could build a better tomorrow for their children and for the world It is an unthinkable accomplishment So often do we allow minute failures or insignificant losses to crush our spirits Our parents and grandparents portray the power of human resilience They did their part In honor of those who suffered during the hell of the Holocaust and those who continue to suffer today we will accept the torch of history passed on from our ancestors burning with built up resilience fueled with pain registered lives lost and evil bred With this torch we the youth of today will create a better future In a few weeks a new group will embark on the journey that started it all the journey known as the March of the Living Although the trip will end for them as well the mission is never complete This experience merely plants the seed that we the young and inspired must water and nourish into a better tomorrow 5

The Time has Come for World Leadership to Stand up to Antisemitism March of the Living chairman Dr Shmuel Rosenman says there needs to be special emphasis on combating antisemitism as the witnesses to its worst atrocities become fewer in number by the year By DAVID BRUMMER D r Shmuel Rosenman has a clear and concise message to European and world leaders concerning the growing incidence of antisemitism it is time to act He has become increasingly alarmed over the last five or six years as renewed antisemitism has made news headlines and Jewish lives feel more precarious It is impossible to lead the International March of the Living and not be acutely aware and sensitively attuned to the dissonance of hatred The world s oldest hatred has metastasized it has become not only an attack on Jews as Jews but viscerally despising of the world s one and only Jewish state Israel Antisemitism is on the increase in Europe said Rosenman More than 72 years after the revelations of the atrocities of the Shoah we are witnessing an uprising of antisemitism In Europe this often manifests itself as extreme hatred toward the State of Israel Warming to his theme Rosenman added that the March of the Living is the embodiment of an educational experience of being able to see with the aid of first hand witnesses the crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Jewish people But he also sounded a note of caution and reflection What happens when there are no more survivors left This is one of the reasons that March of 6 the Living has invited education ministers from EU countries to take part in this year s event It will provide an opportunity for ministers from Austria Poland Portugal Hungary Lithuania and others to take what will be more than just a symbolic journey Think about those countries We could legitimately ask each of them Where are your Jews What did you do to protect them The chairman of the International March of the Living is gratified though that so many EU education ministers will be in attendance As the number of survivors diminishes annually we must turn our attention to how we teach the Holocaust to the generations to come This is the theme of this year s March of the Living We must be sensitive but clear headed enough to know that within a relatively short period of time the witnesses to these crimes will no longer physically be with us Over the past 29 years around 250 000 participants have walked from the gates of Auschwitz to Birkenau on the March of the Living Jew and non Jew students and adults survivors and political leaders from more than 50 countries Each year these marchers commemorate more than a million people the vast majority of them Jewish men women and children who were murdered many on their arrival to the death camp On this march we insist that never again shall we be silent when innocent people are being slaughtered MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 says Rosenman Whether they are our brothers and sisters or members of any other nation race or religion the lesson is universal Never again shall we be indifferent to the suffering others Never again shall we be too late in hearing the cry of the downtrodden Yet we look around the world today and see that our work is not yet done Rosenman considers the march and its surrounding events an international educational program bringing together young people and adults from all over the world to learn about the history of the Holocaust and Jewish life in Poland The participants on our marches symbolize the stark contrast to the actual Death Marches during which countless numbers of Nazi victims were forced to take toward the end of the war in which hundreds of thousands perished explains Rosenman This time however there is a difference It is the march of the living during which participants march with their heads up high affirming that intolerance no longer has a place in our world According to Rosenman who received his doctorate in education administration from Penn State University and today teaches economic and health policy at Bar Ilan University and Ashkelon Academic College the program has several goals First is to pay tribute to the courage of those who survived the Holocaust and

rebuilt their lives despite the haunting memories of the past Participants are thus the bearers of their memories the witnesses for the witnesses Second to never again allow for the unchecked rise of antisemitism or other kinds of discrimination against a single racial group Third tikkun olam the Jewish concept of improving the world is meant to remind students of the responsibility to be a light unto the nations and reach out to people of all cultures And fourth to enter into history by visiting Eastern Europe Young students says Rosenman take part in this commemorative act demonstrating to the world that the death of six million Jews has registered and will never be forgotten by the Jewish people The March of the Living has two parts he continues One week in Poland and one week in Israel The idea is to go from destruction to rebirth to understand the importance of the existence of Israel as the spiritual center and homeland of the Jewish people He is sanguine but proud of the March of the Living s enduring appeal If a program runs for 29 years and every year more and more people seek to join you must be doing something right says Rosenman He attributes part of this success to keeping the educational message relevant and fresh and by avoiding repetition Perhaps this year with the emphasis on carrying on the message of tolerance acceptance and teaching the Holocaust without its primary resource it will act as a further spur to participants young and old to keep the flame of remembrance burning The March of the Living is not only about the visits to camps in Poland In February it co sponsored with the International and Comparative Law Review and Loyola Center for the Study of Law and Genocide a Holocaust Educational Symposium on the Nuremberg Laws and the Nuremberg trials held at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles Several high profile thought leaders attended the symposium including Richard D Heideman Senior Counsel of the law firm Heideman Nudelman Kalil P C and recipient of the 2016 Public Justice Trial of the Year Award Shmuel Rosenman right visits an Auschwitz barrack with Ariel Sharon and Elie Wiesel MOTL Professor Stanley Goldman legal scholar and founding director of the Center for the Study of Law and Genocide at Loyola Law School Professor Michael Bazyler of Chapman University Fowler School of Law author of 2016 Jewish Book of the Year Holocaust Genocide and the Law Professor Michael Berenbaum director of Sigi Ziering Institute and professor of Jewish Studies at American Jewish University Professor Jonathan Bush lecturer in law at Columbia Law School and one of the founding general counsels at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Hannah Bryce assistant head at the International Security Department at the Chatham House Dydine Umunyana survivor of the Rwandan Genocide and author of Embracing Survival Participants discussed the Nuremberg Laws within the context of better understanding the consequences of state sanctioned hate Contemporary parallels were drawn with state sponsored terrorism including those of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as attempts at genocide in Darfur Rwanda the former Yugoslavia and Syria However it is the visit to Poland and the subsequent trip to Israel that has had a significant impact on the students who have participated in it Alumni return to their college campuses schools and communities and become fervent ambassadors for the life affirming and life changing experiences they witnessed A follow up survey conducted by the organization found that more than 80 of Jewish participants said their sense of MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 Jewish identity and motivation to participate in activities within the Jewish community increased after the program Virtually all respondents 95 felt that the March of the Living left them well prepared to counter the claims of Holocaust deniers Moreover 91 agreed that confronting antisemitism became even more important to them after the trip In the area of human rights and feelings of tolerance for other groups 87 felt that their understanding and personal sensitivity increased Rosenman insists that the program s participants are very aware of the current situation The fact that half of them are not Jewish is important in helping spread teaching about what antisemitism fascism and racism can do to the Jewish people and to societies at large Even if they have not heard him speak perhaps this closely echoes former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sack s maxim that what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews Most people today even if they re not deniers they are bystanders explains Rosenman We want to teach that you shouldn t be a bystander You should be active taking action by law and action by intervention To be a strong force against antisemitism anywhere in the world Our slogan is witness the past ensure the future To this end Rosenman recalls something that writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once said to the young people in Auschwitz Birkenau on the 1990 March of the Living We were convinced that antisemitism perished here in Auschwitz It didn t end here Its victims perished here 7

Marching in the future By PHYLLIS GREENBERG HEIDEMAN A s thousands of participants from around the globe embark on the 29th International March of the Living and gather in Poland to remember our ancestors who perished and pay tribute to those who survived we shall once again be reminded of our Jewish past its relevance and impact on the present and its importance to the future This journey through time has left an indelible mark on the lives of the 250 000 alumni that the March of the Living is proud to have educated over the three decades since its inception Participants have had the meaningful experience of marching alongside their peers and alongside educators survivors liberators and dignitaries from diverse groups peoples and backgrounds Even as we prepare to depart for the 2017 International March of the Living we naturally cannot help but anticipate 2018 when we will celebrate our 30th anniversary a true milestone for any organization We continually turn our thoughts to the importance of Holocaust education legacy and memory and recognize our responsibility to ponder a future with no eyewitnesses to the horrors perpetrated on the Jewish people For these past 70 plus years our survivors have passed the torch of memory on to the next generation through the relaying of heartfelt memories family stories and detailed descriptions of daily life personal histories haunting individual experiences and shared communal suffering It is with profound appreciation for the firsthand testimony that Holocaust survivors have provided to the world that we must now prepare to carry their torch of memory without them We the generations who have benefited from 8 their presence in our lives must dedicate ourselves to serving as witnesses for the witnesses We must dedicate ourselves to continuing the promise to always remember and never forget This task will not be easy But it is one we must undertake for the sake of those who perished for the sake of those who survived against all odds and for the sake of future generations in whom we must imbue a sense of remembering the past as an important link to protecting the future A people that forsakes its memory is a people that forsakes its heart As we prepare to face the future the importance of educating our next generations on the events of the past which have dramatic and continuing influence on our lives remains crystal clear For as we are taught It is not incumbent upon us to complete the task but neither are we free to desist from it The March of the Living is committed to pursuing innovative methods to impart the information necessary to engage future generations in efforts to help ensure a bright future for humankind As an organization we remain committed to educating our educators through initiatives designed to impart the lessons of our past without the presence of the survivors themselves but through the use of their previously recorded words and testimonies Toward that end we recognize the importance of the second and third generation of Holocaust survivors as storytellers and purveyors of historic information The chain of memory of the honest and historic experience of parents and grandparents lies directly in the hands of those who received testimony from the witnesses themselves However the transmission of memory MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 becomes the responsibility of the greater community as well It is imperative that as a world community the Jewish people accept the role of keeping alive the history of those who came before us how they lived and how they died When the last survivor is no longer with us it is we the successors of the past and messengers of the future who must carry the torch of our heritage It is we the Jewish people as a whole who must as we are commanded in the Passover Haggada tell and retell the story And we must do so to pass the legacy and lessons of the past on to the next generation so that they are educated enlightened and engaged in preserving and protecting memory We hope you will join our mission our passion and our program to keep the lessons of the past alive today It is with the future in mind and in the spirit of continuity that on behalf of the board of directors I personally invite each of you to join us on the 2018 International March of the Living We promise you experiences you will never forget and memories you will long remember Phyllis Greenberg Heideman is the President of International March of the Living

Taking ownership of our story By NAFTALI BENNETT O ur memory of the Holocaust is shaped by what remains of the horror diaries such as Anne Frank s documents buried in milk cans and of course the firsthand accounts told and retold by those who survived This is why as the generation of the Holocaust gets older it is becoming more of a challenge to teach children about those horrendous years This year s March of the Living is dedicated to a simple question How do we educate without survivors On Holocaust Remembrance Day I will march from Auschwitz to Birkenau with over 10 000 people and dozens of survivors Sadly the number of survivors capable of sharing their stories is rapidly decreasing we must find new ways to remember On Passover every person every generation is commanded to view himself as though he left Egypt This seems strange we should be instructed to remember our grandparents exodus not pretend that it was we who were there However this is the secret to Jewish continuity over the years and possibly the way to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive when no survivor can share his story Those who went through hell and survived had a firsthand experience Their children and grandchildren my generation and that of my kids were able to look at them and say they went through it For the second and third generations the Holocaust happened to someone else but that someone has a name and a face Soon saying it happened to them will not be enough there will be no face or name to associate it with So we must learn from our Jewish tradition and command every person every generation to view himself as COURTESY though he was in the Holocaust It is by reliving things that we stop them from fading away To educate without survivors we must internalize their MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 story and take ownership of it Naftali Bennett is the Education minister and Diaspora Affairs minister 9

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

Virulent Antisemitism has returned to Europe It is also becoming more prevalent in the United States We need education to combat it I By MIRIAM NAOR wish to begin by looking at the Diaspora where a phenomenon as old as the Jewish people itself has unfortunately returned and raised its ugly head namely antisemitism Antisemitism is prejudice at its most hostile and it has always existed Antisemitism persecution of Jews simply because they are Jews has taken different shapes and spread throughout the course of history It culminated in the most atrocious crime in human history the Holocaust in which one third of our people was obliterated In those sinisterly dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany the courts were complicit in both antisemitism and the annihilation Indeed the path to eradication was paved when the Jews civil and human rights were denied and the Jews all Jews young and old infants and women were classified as non human sub human More than seventy years have passed since the defeat of Nazi Germany and yet the demon of antisemitism is rearing its ugly head once more in Europe and even in the United States When swastikas are drawn at the entrance to a kindergarten tombstones are overturned in Jewish cemeteries these are important events that signify an outbreak an upturn in antisemitism that had seemingly lain dormant and hidden It must be said clearly The United States is not antisemitic God forbid We are the best of friends but even there antisemitic inci dents have occurred The situation in Europe is no less severe As a Jew as an Israeli and as a descendant to a family that was mostly wiped out in the Holocaust I cannot stand by and not express my concern at the current situation Indeed there have been many expressions of solidarity and support from countries international organizations and civil society organizations which have promoted international legislation and documents against the effects of antisemitism We have heard declarations from world leaders condemning it We must be thankful for acts like these but it is not enough There is a need for public education worldwide in Europe and even the United States about the ideas of human dignity and liberty to realize the principles of liberty equality and fraternity as the legacy of the French Revolution Liberty not tyranny Equality not discrimination Fraternity not hatred There is a need to actively protect and promote human dignity and human rights We must be constantly vigilant in our defense of democratic values consecrated with the blood of the victims of tyranny and hatred This task is the responsibility of all branches of government everywhere including Israel The importance of protecting human rights is one of the most important lessons that it is incumbent upon us to learn from our history as a nation Lest we forget that if we fail to protect democracy it will not be able protect us Miriam Naor is president of the Israel Supreme Court MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 11

Preserving the Memory of the Holocaust Through Education Austrian Education Minister Sonja Hammerschmid has been instrumental in the country s participation with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and teaching the Shoah to Austrian students J By DAVID BRUMMER erusalem Post Can you explain what kind of educational programs are in place to help keep alive the memory of the Holocaust and its Jewish victims Sonja Hammerschmid The National Socialist era and the Holocaust have left their mark on Europe s and Austria s cultural memory like no other lieu de m moire in European history The critical examination of the crimes against humanity that occurred in the Shoah during the Nazi regime and memory of the victims the resistance and those who came to the aid of those being persecuted are all a part of today s Austrian identity In light of the special responsibility that Austria bears as a consequence of its recent history the Federal Ministry of Education through its erinnern at association is encouraging and facilitating an appropriate examination of the National Socialist era and the Holocaust in Austrian schools Teaching and learning about the Holocaust is an integral part of the school curricula for history in grades eight and 11 and 12 of all school types Ongoing erinnern at activities include education and training for Austrian teachers development of teaching materials in accordance with the most recent standards of 12 media education and the online information hub This includes twoweek training courses for Austrian teachers at the International School for Holocaust Studies Yad Vashem in Jerusalem which have been run since 2000 The training courses give teachers the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Israeli Holocaust narrative Participation obliges teachers to pass their knowledge on and to continue their involvement This year approximately 650 participants will have benefited from these seminars An annual seminar with survivors gives teachers the unique opportunity to meet them and learn about their life stories and many survivors still visit school classes to share their experiences with pupils The Central Seminar is an annual event that runs over several days bringing together stakeholders in education and science and providing representatives from additional relevant disciplines historical research literary studies sociology etc with the chance to meet up with teachers education experts textbook authors and students This is where the fundamental debate on an appropriate approach to the subject of National Socialism and the Holocaust in the Austrian education system takes place involving around 1 500 teachers to date My ministry and erinnern at both play an active role in the Interna MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 tional Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to which we ascribe our highest importance Post Is it correct to say that socially and culturally Austria has some very mixed schools many with a large proportion of immigrants If so are there particular challenges to teaching about the Holocaust under these conditions SH Schools deal with this diversity in many subject matters as well as in teaching about the Holocaust There is no indication of specific opposition to any subjects of teaching from any specific group Of course schools reflect the general discussions and controversies within a society and teachers cope with these challenges There is a considerable risk of groups and movements seeking refuge in simple we constructions and trying to legitimize and distinguish themselves through enemy images This is a big topic also on the level of the European Union We need to recognize the chances and enrichments that diverse societies offer Post The extreme right wing is seeing a renaissance in much of Europe How is that tackled vis vis Holocaust education in Austria SH School curricula in Austria include Holocaust education within history education in every school form Teaching materials and textbooks address the meaning of this

has proven that this is well received by pupils and teachers as well and our erinnern at institute currently is active in an international cooperative effort on the development of an innovative learning app based on video testimonies An international expert conference was held by erinnern at earlier this year There are also plans for a project to establish a comprehensive website based collection of all available video testimonies of Holocaust survivors in Austria In this we are partnering with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute in Los Angeles among others important part of Austrian history for today Contemporary relevant political and societal issues are also dealt with in civics education Schools offer a safe space for exploration of sensitive issues and teachers are trained to address these questions without attempting indoctrination The erinnern at organization developed a schoolbook to address the topics of antisemitism racism and intolerance with school kids and we invest considerable effort into teacher training in order to support teachers in dealing with radicalization Post Do you feel that given its history Austria is in a unique position to teach not only other European countries but also others throughout the world about the dangers of turning political anger into legally enshrined intolerance and victimization SH Every country and society has its own episodes of painful history be it connected to events of mass violence to colonialism or others Austria and Austrian schools need to confront the long history of antisemitism including before the rise of the Nazis and especially the involvement of so many Austrians in atrocities during World War II and foremost the Holocaust What is learned from this history depends on the questions that are posed and these questions vary from time to time and from group to group Each age cohort brings forward new and specific questions and academic histories archives and museums Educational institutions like schools and erinnern at also provide the resources and competencies that are needed We in Austria feel privileged to learn from the experiences of other countries like Israel and we gladly invite others to share ours Here the IHRA plays an important role This supranational network is of utmost importance for exchange and discussion in the fields of education Austrian Education Minister Sonja Hammerschmid BUNDESKANZLERAMT STERREICH BUNDESPRESSEDIENST ANDY WENZEL remembrance and research pertaining to the Holocaust and the time of National Socialism Post The number of Holocaust survivors is diminishing annually What plans are in place for when there are no longer those living remnants of the past able to give firsthand testimony of what they witnessed and experienced SH Fortunately many survivors visit schools annually and survivors and teachers meet at the annual seminar for contemporary witnesses to the Holocaust that is offered by my ministry through erinnern at In addition to this we have been providing learning programs for schools for several years now that are based on videotaped testimonies of Holocaust survivors Research MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 Post Can you share a personal experience about interactions you had with Holocaust education or survivors What kind of effect did it have on you SH I was born in Upper Austria the federal province which through sites such as the former concentration camp Mauthausen and with Gusen and Ebensee and painful incidents such as the M hlviertler Hasenjagd will forever be associated with the National Socialist history of Austria This has deeply affected me and it encourages me in my efforts to provide adequate Holocaust education in schools As former rector of the University for Veterinary Medicine I initiated research of the history of the institution Post If you could send a message particularly to the younger participants of this year s March of the Living what would it be SH Listen empathetically to what survivors have to tell Carefully explore the sites of Nazi crimes and thoroughly analyze what happened in society and politics in the past that allowed all these crimes to take place and caused so much pain Carefully consider developments in your world today and do what you can to stand up courageously against hate discrimination and racism 13

The Uniqueness of the March of the Living Why I continue to return to Poland T By NATE LEIPCIGER he question I most often encounter from other survivors is Why do you continue to go on the March Some of them feel uncomfortable about returning to Poland for various reasons but many having reached the age of 80 or 14 more feel that the physical strain and emotional stress is more than they can endure This reduces the number of survivors who are prepared to go to a very small number Thus the task falls on the children of survivors the youngest group of survivors The children of survivors many of whom were hidden by Righteous GenMARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 tiles also have the fewest hang ups about going back to Poland and Europe I feel an obligation to go as long as my energies and health will allow I also feel a duty to tell the story of those who did not make it I owe it to the six million especially the children Having arrived at Auschwitz at the age of 15 and having seen others of my age group marched

Survivor Edward Mosberg lights a memorial torch with his granddaughter on the 2016 March of the Living YOSSI ZELIGER off directly to the gas chambers I feel a tremendous obligation to educate our youth There are many other reasons some of which I will outline briefly and not necessarily in the order of importance I encouraged our youth to go on the March of the Living and my grandchildren have responded to my urging I have kein ayin hara no evil eye nine grandchildren This year the fourth of my grandchildren will be with me on the march I hope to have the strength and health to accompany the others on future March of the Living trips It is very difficult to describe the survivors feelings when we see the expression on the faces of our young students listening to our stories and going through the various sites be it death camps abandoned synagogues neglected cemeteries reconstructed synagogues or sites of mass graves The students are the raison d tre of the march Their innocence their intelligence their dedication their eagerness to learn their search for information and knowledge their readiness to experience the unknown emotionally and cerebrally are individually and collectively paramount to the march s success I absorb the students energies which reinvigorates me and gives me the strength to continue to educate These young people hang on to each word trying to understand what it is that they are seeing straining to make sense of what is really incomprehensible They exhibit genuine feelings and empathy for the victims In many cases the victims were their grandparents great grandparents and other members of their unknown lost families We tell our stories of suffering and survival but equally important are the stories of our families and how we lived before the terrible times of the Shoah We tell them of our pain of separation our longing to be with our family only a few moments more and our bitter disappointment in not expressing our love to them or not having had the opportunity to say goodbye Our educators are our greatest assets Most have made the trip many times they are knowledgeable speakers facilitators and great teachers They make the prewar and Shoah periods come alive for the students They have great feelings for and detailed knowledge of the European Jewish societies their various factions including their conflicting and opposing views and the contributions that each made to European society in general and Jewish society in particular The richness of prewar Jewish communities in Europe is legendary Our spiritual leaders give our students a MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 grounding and connection to our religious heritage They connect us to our traditions that stretch beyond the 1 000 years or so that we lived in Europe and Poland They are crucial to the mental health of our youth and together with our educators are responsible for ensuring that the students do not become traumatized Collectively we impress on our students that the main purpose of our trip is to remember not only the way in which our people perished but equally important to learn how they lived and what contributions they made to the world It is especially important to learn of the contributions made to Jewish study medicine Yiddish Hebrew and Polish literature as well as science music and social studies These contributions were made in less than ideal circumstances amid antisemitism with many obstacles in the way Finally each of my trips to Poland is a pilgrimage and homage to my mother sister grandparents and dozens of members of my family who were such an integral part of my early childhood It is a time for recollection of sweet memories of happy times spent with my immediate family and friends As I get older each trip is more difficult and more taxing nightmares are more frequent horrible memories rekindled and frustration and anger returns The world went mad and our neighbors and the rest of the world stood callously by in silence while we suffered unimaginable cruelties and death But I must go on hoping that tomorrow will be better that soon the world will recognize that hatred leads to more unabated hatred and endless suffering If there is a meaning to our survival it is that even one small voice can make a difference Nate Leipciger is a Holocaust survivor and has joined the March of the Living 17 times since his first trip in 1988 15

Au Revoir Mama Alex Buckman was only four years old when Mme Andr e Geulen a 20 year old Brussels school teacher who saved many Jewish children hid him from the Nazis O n a fateful day in 1943 before he was handed over to Mme Geulen his father kissed him for the last time Where is Mama Alex asked his father who pointed to the bedroom Alex ran toward the bedroom but the door was locked The boy did not understand why since there were no locks inside the house Alex never saw his parents again they were both murdered in Auschwitz So in my mind as a child I never said goodbye to my mother Alex said We are in 2010 on the March of the Living in a room the former gas chamber in Auschwitz Birkenau where my mother and her sister were waiting for the showers Obviously there was no water as the Nazis placed poison above the shower heads They the guides told us that the women became hysterical because they did not see the water so they ran toward the walls and scratched the walls with their fingernails I turned around and caressed the walls so I could still feel the scratches these women had made maybe my mother had done the same thing As I caressed it I said Au revoir Mama because I never got to say goodbye when I was a child Many years later Alex reunited with Mme Geulen now 93 years old and found out from her that indeed the bedroom door had not been locked His mother held the doorknob and would not let go She didn t want to see you because she was afraid she was going to keep you Instead of that she let you go and saved your life Mme Geulen explained 16 MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017

Passing the Torch of Memory to our Students A By SOL NAYMAN round 180 000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel with a slightly smaller number throughout the rest of the world That s approximately 350 000 in total To think that I am one of this group is mind boggling and much more so following my first trip back to Poland since our escape from our destroyed town in 1939 Sadly the survivors task of preserving the memories of the Shoah becomes increasingly difficult with the passage of time as our numbers decrease by up to 1 000 per month In fact I recently lost a dear former classmate from Montreal whose survival path was very similar to mine Time is of the essence as experts predict that within just seven years very few of us will be well enough to share anything of significance I wanted to go back to Poland 76 years later to share my memories with the students I wanted with the other Toronto survivors who so impressed me with their stories of courage and determination to pass the torch of my memories to those students so that they too would become witnesses of the Shoah and ensure that it could never happen again My twin granddaughters participated in the March of the Living in 2011 although they did not want me to come with them Zeyde Grandpa they said you can t take it emotionally But I was not about to pass up this trip with Maurice my eldest grandson emotions aside The trip was both exhausting and exhilarating and provided two of the most profoundly moving weeks of my life Highlights included touring the Old Town of the picturesque city of Krakow walking around the ghetto and the remnants of Oscar Schindler s factory A visit to Plaszow with its towering memorial to 8 000 victims aptly named Torn Out Hearts was equally memorable My visit to Auschwitz Birkenau was transformative I first learned of the Holocaust in a DP camp in Wetzlar Germany in 1946 having left a Soviet labor camp It was there that I first encountered concentration camp survivors many of whom were physically and emotionally damaged We saw the numbers tattooed on their arms heard their heartbreaking stories and saw numerous photos of the death camps Despite having heard these firsthand accounts and having visited numerous Holocaust museums nothing could prepare me for walking through the infamous gates with the obscene Arbeit Macht Frei Work Will Set You Free graphic There were difficult and upsetting moments such as listening to a description of the massacre of 2 000 Jews from the town of Tykocin who were shot into open graves in the Lopuchowo Forest I was trembling as I heard the story but I felt Maurice s hand on my shoulder to calm me We also visited Treblinka which I have often described as my neighborhood death camp as it is located a mere 35 km from Stoczek Wegrowski where I was born It was there that my grandmother in whose memory I dedicated my march perished among 870 000 other Jews murdered by the Nazis We located the stone marking my town and I recited a prayer for the soul of my grandmother and all others who perished in Treblinka Throughout the march my grandson Maurice helped me to keep my emotions in check but instead of breaking down I felt uplifted and somehow relieved of a great burden Suvivor Alex Buckman and two students on the 2010 March of the Living MONIQUE DE ST CROIX MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 17

2017 March of the Living SURVIVORS GALLERY ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARCH OF THE LIVING 18 HARRY BAIKOWITZ ADELE BESSERMAN BEN BICHER TED BOLGAR KAUNAS LITHUANIA LODZ POLAND BRUSSELS BELGIUM SAROSPATAK HUNGARY GEORGETTE BRINBERG HANK BRODT BERTHE CYGELFARB MAUD DAHME VILLERUPT FRANCE BOROSLAV UKRAINE PARIS FRANCE AMERSFOORT NETHERLANDS MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017

VESNA DOMANY ZAGREB CROATIA SALLY DAUMAN LODZ POLAND MAX EISEN JULIUS EISENSTEIN ANITA EKSTEIN MOLDAVA CZECHOSLOVAKIA TOMASZOW POLAND LWOW POLAND ESTHER FAIRBLOOM RAY FISHLER VERA FOLIC TANA FOX TARNEPOL POLAND KAZMIERZA WIELKA POLAND VERSAILLES FRANCE TEREZIN CZECHESLOVAKIA IVAN GABOR PAUL GALAN BOB GEMINDER MAX GLAUBEN BAHIA MARE TRANSYLVANIA MICHALOVCE SLOVAKIA WROCLAW POLAND WARSAW POLAND MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 19

BILL GLIED ROSETTE GOLDSTEIN AREK HERSH MANIA HUDY SUBOTICA SERBIA PARIS FRANCE SIERADZ POLAND WARSAW POLAND AIDA JURKIEWICZ GABRIELLA KARIN ANITA KARL CELIA KENER TASKENT UZBEKISTAN CZECHOSLOVAKIA LWOW POLAND LVOV POLAND EVE ROSENZWEIG KUGLER IRENE KURTZ WARSAW POLAND NATE LEIPCIGER CHORZOW POLAND BILL LEWKOWICT VILNA POLAND LEIPZIG GERMANY 20 PAWEL LICHTER ABRAHAM MAJZNER ESTELLE NADEL SOL NAYMAN RYPIN POLAND KRASHNIK POLAND BOREK POLAND STOCZEK WEGROWKI POLAND MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017

GYORGYI NEMES HARRY OLMER SAMUEL PELTZ EVA PERLMAN BUDAPEST HUNGARY SONSOWIEC POLAND STAF NOWAKDSKI POLAND AUTRANS FRANCE LEA RADZINER SAM RON RENEE SALT SAM SCHLEIDER AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS KAZIMIERZA WIELKA POLAND ZDUNSKA VOLA POLAND STANISLOV POLAND ERIKA SCHWARTZ TOMMY STRASSER TUKY TREITEL MALA TRIBICH NYIREGYHAZA HUNGARY NOVE ZAMKY SLOVAKIA BUDAPEST HUNGARY PIOTRKOW TRYBUNASLKI POLAND KATHLEEN ZAHAVI MARCEL ZIELINSKI MARYLA ZIELINSKI IRENE ZISBLATT NYIREGYHAZA HUNGARY KRAKOW POLAND LVOV POLAND POLENO HUNGARY MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 21

Elie Wiesel A Gentle Giant By YAAKOV Y KERMAIER P residents and princes revered him and when he wasn t taking them to task they adored him Elie Wiesel operated on a global stage his writings stirred the consciences of people everywhere He engaged the world s most powerful people and he often found himself in places of opulence with beautiful famous people fawning over him 22 The horrors to which he was the world s most eloquent witness bequeathed to him the rarest of clarity in all matters moral and this clarity made him a fearless and peerless defender of human rights There was another Wiesel though the private one Wiesel was the most gentle and sensitive man I have ever known Though there was never anything I could offer him in return he showered me with undeserved respect and kindness for the last 13 MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 years of his life Sharing with you a few scattered recollections is my way of grieving and honoring his memory I have no illusions that my experiences were unique I have come to learn that many were similarly touched by his capacious heart A number of years ago Wiesel tricked me and I fell right into his trap A couple of weeks before one of his celebrated lectures at the 92nd Street Y he called me up to invite me to attend I

Elie Wiesel speaks at a World War II tribute REUTERS accepted and he told me that a ticket would be waiting for me at the box office The day before the lecture he called me again to make sure I was coming Strange I thought Elie s much anticipated presentations at the Y always sell out Why is he so concerned about my attendance My question was answered at the outset of his lecture I would like to thank my rabbi Yaakov Kermaier who is here tonight and taught me so much about tonight s lecture topic Akedat Yitzhak the Binding of Isaac Lord knows that I had precious little to teach Wiesel regarding a biblical passage about which he had written and spoken extensively No matter He planned over the course of two weeks to lure me into a crowded arena to publicly honor and uplift me On the first Sunday evening of November 2012 Wiesel was scheduled to appear with another Nobel laureate for a panel discussion at the 92nd Street Y As it happens we were celebrating my son Binyamin s bar mitzva at Fifth Avenue Synagogue that evening Wiesel attended the bar mitzva He didn t rush He sat down next to Binyamin talked to him placed his hands softly on Binyamin s head and gave him a blessing Wiesel stayed for the speeches and he wrote a letter in the Torah that we dedicated for the occasion I told him how much his presence meant to my family and me especially knowing that he would now need to rush to his own program Wiesel responded Binyamin s happiness is more important to me See attached photos Rabbi how can I help you Just ask and I will always say yes Wiesel repeated this offer many times Once while bedridden and recovering from major open heart surgery Wiesel called me having heard about a community matter that was causing me stress He asked Who should I call and tell to leave my rabbi alone Each year for the past decade in the lead up to the High Holy Days I had a havruta study session with Wiesel I would test my sermon ideas on him he was always my best sermon critic and ask him to share with me his insights into the greatest challenges facing the Jewish people and the world I would sit next to him mesmerized This past summer I made aliya with my family but I returned to New York to officiate one final time at Fifth Avenue Synagogue s High Holy Day services Of course I scheduled a meeting to study with Wiesel Though he rallied afterward he was very sick at this point so I tried to make our meeting short His assistant entered a few times to remind him of his next appointment But Wiesel continued to talk He wanted to know how he could help me with my plans MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 to set up an organization in Jerusalem Rabbi just call me and I will come to Jerusalem I will speak or meet people or introduce you to individuals who can help you he said I thanked him but apparently he could sense from my tone or facial expression that I didn t believe he would actually fly to Jerusalem And so he repeated his offer Rabbi you have my word I will be there for you He was in no physical position at that point to fly overseas And yet I believe to this day that if I would have asked he would have defied doctors orders and traveled to Jerusalem In 2014 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nazi deportation of Hungarian Jewry I invited Wiesel to share his personal experiences at the synagogue s Holocaust Remembrance Day program The ceremony which included prayers and songs concluded with the singing of Ani Ma amin Knowing how much this song resonated with him I asked him if he would lead the community in singing this passage Without hesitation he responded No that is Cantor Malavony s role I cannot intrude on his territory This was classic Wiesel I responded that of course I had already asked the cantor and he agreed that it would be very special And so Wiesel sang Ani Ma amin to a hassidic melody from his childhood The hundreds gathered were whisked away to a heavenly place as he poured his heart and soul into the words Ani ma amin I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah and even though he tarries I anticipate his arrival every day Elie Wiesel waited a lifetime for the redeemer but not a day for the redemption to begin Like no one else in his generation he fought for the redemption of mankind He was a global superstar but he was also incredibly kind and gentle If the Messiah does come tomorrow he will discover that Wiesel has already started his work His memory is a blessing The writer is president of Yakir Community Diversity Unity and rabbi emeritus of Fifth Avenue Synagogue 23

Combating the Anti Zionist Facade In an interview with the Report Elisha Wiesel son of Elie Wiesel explains that the March of the Living is essential to help students put the Holocaust into the narrative of Jewish history By DAVID BRUMMER A conversation with Elisha Wiesel is like stepping into a Talmudic debate Quietly spoken and urbane he gives deep thought before delivering considered answers Despite his famous father s largerthan life legacy he is his own man with his own ideas and strong opinions He will take part in the March of the Living for the first time this year and is acutely aware of its significance not simply from a personal perspective but as a powerful tool to strengthen Jewish identity and also create a deeper and more nuanced appreciation of Israel We live in an age in which we hoped that antisemitism would dissipate where the world would take a step back and realize that words and actions have consequences sometimes genocidal ones But Europe and the United States are grappling with increasing levels of antisemitism and one feature in particular caught Wiesel s attention What s notable about the strain of antisemitism at the moment is that it is being masked as anti Zionism and it is being embraced by the Left and in America that is tragic We are talking about causes where the Jewish people have been so closely aligned Take the Black Lives Matter movement It is incomprehensible to me that they have incorporated language from Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Where is the connection It is disappointing If you look at the history of the NAACP US Jews were there from the beginning That BDS is being swept 24 into BLM saddens and disappoints me The BLM movement began in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed African American teen Trayvon Martin in Sanford Florida But its progression to becoming a MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 more significant actor on the national stage followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri on August 9 2014 At the same time the BDS movement s response to Operation Protective Edge drew the attention of the Black Lives Matter leader

ELISHA WIESEL USHMM WASHINGTON DC ship and it was at this point that two seemingly disparate issues converged into a fight as the leadership of the movements saw it against oppression Talking about the BLM and BDS movements brought the conversation to college campuses where standing up as a proud Jew has become more challenging Being a participant in March of the Living should build the sense of legitimacy that we as a Jewish people have a right to exist Wiesel said We have a right to a country which as part of its national fabric asserts that we will never be without a home again To understand the importance of Israel as a strategic response to the existential crisis that we faced is something that students should understand They should embrace the opportunity to challenge antisemitism which is too often masked as anti Zionism Wiesel said that this would be the first time he has participated in the March of the Living and he eagerly anticipated the transformative effect it could have This is one of the reasons I think so highly of the March of the Living he said The concept of bringing Jewish youth to see these places where the atrocities occurred shakes them out of their everyday experience This is real and not just images in a book These are things that happened to our people The enemy came to our villages towns and cities and sought to destroy us Wiesel is also able to take a more bird s eye view of Jewish history drawing back to see where the events of the Shoah fit within this context Taking part in March of the Living he added gives Jewish history an immediacy it shows just how fragile Jewish history can be If Hitler and Nazi Germany had won they could conceivably have killed all of European Jewry It is important for Jewish youth to understand that and I hope that participating in the march will help to renew a sense of identity and determination that we are not going anywhere Naturally the shadow of Elie Wiesel looms large in our conversation and as his memorial year draws toward its conclusion it seemed appropriate to MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 inquire of Elisha how his father s work and his legacy with its focus on justice for all oppressed peoples was continuing without his physical presence My father didn t leave anything unsaid he stated It is up to all of us now to further his vision He worked tirelessly on behalf of those who were voiceless I hope that those who seek to understand and promote his legacy will do so by finding ways to support the oppressed to support fundamental human rights that transcend religion gender skin color and sexual preference and to champion peace and security Wiesel added that many Holocaust survivors could have chosen to be done with Jewish tradition after their harrowing and unimaginably traumatic experiences He acknowledged that his father had endured a period of questioning and distancing but not to the extent that it led him to lose his connection to Judaism Ultimately he felt a responsibility to both previous and future generations to marry a Jewish partner to raise a Jewish child and to engage in Jewish teaching and learning He was very clear that Judaism had an important place in the world not because it was older or better than other religions but because it had something unique to teach about devotion to learning the importance of history and in its absolutely being consumed by ethics and the right way to live In a final word about his father s legacy Wiesel outlined that we must strive as his father did to find points of confluence to acknowledge one another s basic humanity in spite of divisions and differences of opinion My father believed in dialogue and we live in a world today with warring Facebook and Twitter feeds where people are very quick to categorize themselves and others around their political views With the exception of those who held truly hateful political views in particular Holocaust deniers my father would engage with others including those with whom he disagreed It is the only viable path to bridging misunderstandings and finding a way to live with one another 25

Antisemitism is losing its stigma of shame The Anti Defamation League s Deputy National Director Kenneth Jacobson says that antisemitism is resurgent owing to a perfect storm of social and economic factors and the rise and rise of the Internet By DAVID BRUMMER K enneth Jacobson joined the Anti Defamation League s ADL staff in 1972 as a member of the agency s Research and Evaluation Department He graduated to become Director of Middle Eastern Affairs in 1979 and became Assistant National Director in 1994 His is an important voice on the growth of antisemitism and anti Zionism in both the United States and Europe Global antisemitism today is a major challenge for a variety of reasons Whether it is the worst since WWII is subject to different readings For example during the years of the cold war the Soviet Union was the major purveyor of antisemitism in the world including pushing through the infamous Zionism is racism UN resolution of 1975 Jacobson highlighted however that despite the fact there was no European government preaching or espousing antisemitism the problem has not dissipated far from it What has changed and made antisemitism a greater challenge in other ways are several factors that didn t exist earlier The loss of shame about antisemitism a perfect storm of social political and economic anxiety the rise of populism and the emergence of the Internet All have combined to make antisemitism a global problem Jacobson is clear that this phenomenon the loss of shame stems from two factors The first he says is that 26 we are now decades removed from the Holocaust and that shame over Auschwitz which inhibited antisemitism is far weaker He considers the second factor to be daily bombardment against the good name of the State of Israel which has made antisemitism seem acceptable and less shameful He added that traditional tropes of blaming Jews for a number of issues is back in fashion and these include financial crises immigration issues and identity conflict Together with this is the rise of populism which these days focuses on Muslims more than Jews but is part of the climate in which antisemitism flourishes And Finally there is the phenomenon of the Internet which provides a unique platform for the haters to disseminate their messages recruit new people and generally encourage bias and intolerance The ADL also attempts to battle apathy and the perception that antisemitism is no longer a problem belonging to a different age Jacobson is proud of the progress that has been made but sounded a not of caution that recent political history shows us nothing can be taken for granted For younger people who are far removed from the Holocaust it is important to educate and invigorate them with an understanding so that the dangers antisemitism can be fully understood We do this on many levels in the public schools through the training of Catholic school teachers and through other institutions in society such as the FBI and CIA He reiterated that Holocaust denial MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 particularly after the last remaining Survivors are gone will continue to be a major focus of the ADL When asked whether European leaders were doing enough Jacobson responds that their performance has improved since the outbreak of widespread antisemitism at the beginning of the century He adds that they have acknowledged the problem and organized conferences and programs to address the issue Still there is much to be done Better use of bully pulpits better data on antisemitism hate crimes better education on the Holocaust better ways of dealing with the complexity of the Israeli Palestinian conflict He is particularly impressed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French Prime Minister Emanuel Valls and considers them models in standing up to antisemitism He says that it was notable that Merkel has repeatedly made clear in public statements and addresses that there is no place especially in Germany for antisemitism as well as speaking at a rally against antisemitism during the last Gaza war Valls gave a remarkable speech to the French National Assembly several years ago accusing the nation of not taking the resurgence of antisemitism seriously enough in a country whose record during the Holocaust was problematic he notes With regard to the prevalence of Internet antisemitism and physical attacks or threats to Jewish institutions and individuals Jacobson is clear that both could be equally traumatic and

could affect the Jewish community as a whole He emphasizes that combating and educating about hate crimes is an ADL priority The Internet as noted is the new vehicle for old hate but it gives it a potency a network an immediacy that didn t always exist That is why we take the challenge of Internet hate as a major priority for ADL going forward he says At the same time he adds what goes in the real world as opposed to the virtual remains at the forefront of our concerns Jacobson argues that Jews have traditionally felt very secure in America and the ADL wants to make sure it stays that way principally through combating and educating the American people on the danger of antisemitism and hatred in general while also making sure that Jewish institutions are secure In addition it is important not to overstate the problem because the ADL wants American Jews to continue to lead the very normal lives they have led for years One of the ADL s major challenges is tackling the increasing frequency of intersectionality the belief that oppressive institutions such as racism sexism xenophobia and homophobia are intrinsically linked and cannot be separated from one another particularly through the BDS movement on college campuses This includes educating minority students about the fact that Israel has far more in common with minority interests than does the Arab world as well analogies of racism to the complexities of the Israeli Palestinian conflict that are false and counterproductive We have a twofold approach We reject and condemn bigoted statements against Israel such as we saw in KENNETH JACOBSON the movement for Black Lives Matter platform which offensively accused Israel of genocide against the Palestinians and in the recent Women s march in which Israel was denounced as colonialist Jacobson emphasizes that legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies does not axiomatically constitute antisemitism and that the challenge is to identify when it crosses the line This includes clear transgressions such as making statements calling Israel Nazis or referring to Israeli treatment of Palestinians as the latest murder of Christ He adds that it was most significant when the Jewish people is denied the right to a homeland such as done by the founder of the BDS movement Where it gets stickier is when individuals or groups discriminate or are clearly biased against Israel without denying Israel the fundamental right to exist and without using openly antisemitic language In other words when it is more nuanced The best way to deal with that is not to accuse all those of antisemitism but to suggest that whether or not they are motivated by antisemitism their distorted view of the Jewish state makes antisemitism much more likely and inevitable He also has a clear message for this year s March of the Living participants in which he hopes that the experience will help them understand the two great lessons of the Holocaust The moral lesson of the need to combat antisemitism and all forms of hatred early on Jacobson adds that one of the plainest lessons from the Holocaust is that Jews can never allow themselves to be powerless The great tragedy was that Jews had no place to go no army to call on and no political allies being wrapped in the perfect storm of a party acceding to power that was committed to their destruction which jeopardized the lives not only of 600 000 German Jews but the millions through the continent If March of the Living participants can walk away with these two values inculcated it would be a great and lasting accomplishment COURTESY ADL MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 27

DEATH MARCH TO MARCH OF THE LIVING COLLAGE DESIGNED BY SARA JASKIEL DEATH MARCH PHOTO YAD VASHEM KZ GEDENSKST TTE DACHAU MARCH OF THE LIVING PHOTO RYAN BLAU 28 MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017

MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 PHOTOS BY YOSSI ZELIGER MARGO VINER 29

Humanity s March from Nuremberg to Today P By JOHN Q BARRETT eople in Germany and observers who were farther away always knew much about the hatreds and evils of Adolf Hitler and his followers From the antisemitism of Mein Kampf to the implementation of policies that oppressed German Jews and other enemies to the devastation of war and military occupations across the European continent Nazi Germany was no mystery But for many specific detailed knowledge of these evils was lacking at first or beyond the comprehension that marks true knowledge The Nuremberg Trials commenced in Allied occupied former Germany in fall 1945 and continuing until spring 1949 were the beginning of and they made possible the widespread understanding based on evidence of the 30 MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 Karl Brandt stands trial at Nuremberg WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Nazis genocidal conduct At first even Nuremberg s chief architects struggled to comprehend the enormity of the crimes that they were prosecuting In June 1945 US Supreme Court justice Robert H Jackson appointed by President Truman to serve as US lead prosecutor of the surviving Nazis was incredulous when one of his principal Jewish advisers told him that six million European Jews had been exterminated by the Nazis Justice Jackson insisted on proof Five months later when Jackson made his opening statement at the first Nuremberg trial he described the evidence that the Allies would offer The conspiracy or common plan to exterminate the Jew was so methodically and thoroughly pursued that despite the German defeat and Nazi prostration this Nazi aim largely

has succeeded Only remnants of the European Jewish population remain in Germany in the countries which Germany occupied and in those which were her satellites or collaborators Of the 9 600 000 Jews who lived in Nazi dominated Europe 60 percent are authoritatively estimated to have perished Five million seven hundred thousand Jews are missing from the countries in which they formerly lived and over 4 500 000 cannot be accounted for by the normal death rate nor by immigration nor are they included among displaced persons History does not record a crime ever perpetrated against so many victims or one ever carried out with such calculated cruelty The 1945 46 Nuremberg Trial delivered the evidence of those crimes Some was in Nazi documents Some came from victims including an Aus chwitz survivor Other evidence came from the mouths of perpetrators in April 1946 for example former Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess testified that at least 2 500 000 victims were executed and exterminated there by gassing and burning Subsequent Nuremberg trials especially the Einsatzgruppen case 70 years ago 1947 that revealed the million plus murders of Jews and others by killing teams in Nazi occupied nations to the east proved and thus helped the world to begin to comprehend the enormity and evil of the Shoah In addition to educating the world about Nazi crimes antisemitism and the suffering of victims the Nuremberg Trials also demonstrated that law and governments can hold perpetrators accountable Indeed the trials were an impetus for global support of the creation of the State of Israel and MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 in time its apprehension and prosecution of Adolf Eichmann The March of Living physically embodies those Nuremberg achievements The march shows and teaches in Auschwitz and Birkenau the enormous incontrovertible horrors of hatred and the victory of those who opposed it during World War II The thousands who participate each year in the March of the Living carry forward the memories of the lost the inspiration drawn from survivors and the vital legacies of those who including at Nuremberg took the side of humanity John Q Barrett a professor of law at St John s University in New York City is a biographer of Justice Robert H Jackson Professor Barrett participated last year in the March of the Living and in its conference in Krakow on the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials 31

The Only Survivor of Tycochin I By YAACOV SULTAN would like to share with you 2 unique experiences I had on the March of The Living On the 2nd day of The March we visited a small village called Tycochin which I am sure many of you have never heard of before Tycochin was a small shtetel in south east Poland which had approx 5000 residents Half Jewish and Half Polish The Jews and gentiles did not have problems with one another On the contrary they actually did business together and got along with each other If any of you have ever watched Fiddler on the Roof which was played on the bus on our way to the village the opening scene fittingly portrays the day to day life in one of these villages Two years after the war broke out in the early mornings of August 25 and 26 1941 the Nazis rounded up all Jews in the town square for apparent relocation Men women children the elderly and the sick were all marched to a nearby forest where they saw 3 large deep pits signifying their graves and their coming death The Germans were instructed to carefully shoot each Jew one by one because as they were told a Jew was not worth more than a single bullet When I asked one of the tour guides on the trip whether or not there were any survivors from the city he told 32 MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 me told that to his knowledge none were recorded The shtetle of Tycochin tells the story of the countless amount of other villages across Europe where Jews were randomly rounded up and either marched to a graveyard or shipped to a concentration camp Anita Ekstein one of the survivors that accompanied us on The March told us that about 10 years ago she met a French Catholic priest named Father Patrick Debois the founder of an organization called Yahad In Unum dedicated to locating the sites of mass graves of Jewish victims of the Nazi mobile killing units in the former Soviet Union Father Debois also travels throughout Poland Ukraine and other neighboring countries to locate this evidence whether it is bones hair or even clothing of Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust Father Debois knows that Poland is a very Catholic country Pope Saint John Paul II is native so he goes town by town and asks it s elders who have the utmost respect for a priest to direct him to its Jews He finds mass graves similar to those in Tycochin but unmarked sometimes even with Jewish bones sticking out of the ground Father Debois wrote a book identifying these little towns some even larger then Tycochin who all previously had vibrant Jewish communities He records the names of these towns it s previous population and amount of Jews and its deaths

The number 6 million has been enshrined in Holocaust Remembrance vocabulary approximately half of whom were murdered in Hitler s gas chambers Ladies and gentlemen I ask you to imagine of that 6 million another 1 5 million unaccounted for Murdered lying In unmarked shallow graves all across eastern Europe unacknowledged for over 60 years As you all know after the first half of the trip on Poland we continue our emotional journey in Israel the national homeland of our people On our 2nd day in Israel we were given some free time to roam the streets of the old city of Tzvat one of Israel s four holiest cities As I was walking across the hill of the beautiful old city I was looking for a place to buy some art and maybe bring something back for my family I figured I would put my bargaining skills to the test and was looking for the perfect victim However I saw that most of the stores were overflowing with fellow students and participants of The March As I arrived at the top of the hill I saw that there was this one smaller store on a corner of the art colony that for some reason had nobody inside I quickly ran towards the shop and I saw a hassidic looking man working on a painting As he saw me happily enter his store he got up and started conversation with me I presumed he was the owner of the store So I politely continued conversation and began looking around for something that I can possibly take home with me at a bargain As I negotiated the price for one of the paintings I had picked he asked me where I was from I told him I was from Canada He asked me what I am doing in Israel so I went on to explain to him that I am on this trip called March of The Living where young teenagers tour Poland for a week and visit Auschwitz for Yom Hashoah and then come to Israel to commemorate Yom HaZikaron and celebrate Yom HaAtsmaut and of course tour the beautiful country He then quietly asked me almost as if he whispered it to me if I knew what Tycochin was I quickly answered him yes of course I was there less then a week ago but I asked him why specifically this shtetle out of all the thousands of shtetles in Europe His eyes began to get emotional I didn t know what to expect next But he continued to whisper to me and explained to me how his father was the only survivor that he knows of that escaped Tycochin After the Nazi had pulled the trigger and the gun went off aimed directly at him behind him the pit waiting for his burial he had fallen into the mass grave grave but apparently was never shot When the Nazis weren t looking he escaped into the forest and managed to survive the war After the war his father immigrated to Palestine and made his way to Tzvat MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017 alone He was blessed with a second chance at life He began painting got married started a family and opened a small art store in the art colony By now tears were pouring from both of our eyes He explained to me that he is now doing just like his father living in Tzfat and painting in the same small art store Let s just say that I bought the piece at full price We are gathered here today to tell the terrifying story of the Holocaust from our perspective high school students who had the opportunity to barely even catch a glimpse and witness what is remaining from the darkest chapter of Jewish and human History The one lesson that I came back with from the March of The Living was that in all of the unexplainable in all of the chaos and in all of the near complete destruction of European Jewry there can never be an end The story of our people for thousands of years has been that we have not only risen from the ashes but we have thrived Wether it was the destruction of our holy temples which we continue to yearn for them to be rebuilt wether it was the pogroms the Spanish Inquisition and the Holocaust that little art store in Tzfat represents the continued perseverance and strength of our people Yaacov Sultan participated in the 2011 March of the Living 33

REFLECTIONS Two participants comfort each other during March of the Living MARGOT VINER POEMS TAKEN FROM FOR YOU DIED I MUST LIVE ON REFLECTIONS ON MARCH OF THE LIVING MOSAIC PRESS 1992 BY ELI RUBINSTEIN AND WITNESS PASSING THE TORCH OF HOLOCAUST MEMORY TO NEW GENERATIONS SECOND STORY PRESS 2015 BY ELI RUBENSTEIN Never Again To Each of Them Remembering is the key to our future Forgetting will destroy us as a nation We must never let this happen again Or the generations to come Will be marching for us To each of them I will give a name and a monument To every man to every woman to every child And to each of them I will give a name and a monument To those who fought And to those who had no way to fight To those who sang on their way to their deaths And to those who were silent Mara Divinsky age 16 To those who found God in the camps And to those who declared God dead And to each of them I will give a name and a monument To those who went hungry so their children could eat And to those who stole their children s bread in the night To those who displayed the strength of the human spirit I see bones and hair shoes and glasses And to those who let the pain overtake them While in a Nazi hell ruled by the devil s brother And to each of them I will give a name and a monument But still I cannot hate I see women s brushes men s talisim and babies tattered clothing To those who were there When every bite of bread was a decision But still I cannot hate When every step could cause death I see splintered boards where people laid their weary bodies To the heroes and to the non heroes I see where people slaved and tried to exist The strong and the weak And still I cannot hate To those who were superhuman I see the death and destruction And to those who like you and I But still I cannot hate Were merely most importantly I won t continue this tragedy I won t spread the disease Human I won t fan the flames that hate like this inspires Still I Cannot Hate Jennifer Staffenberg age 17 34 Aviva Goldberg age 17 MARCH OF THE LIVING APRIL 2017