The March of the Living (, ; ) is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they explore the remnants of the Holocaust. On Holocaust Memorial Day observed in the Jewish calendar (), thousands of participants march silently from Auschwitz to Birkenau.
The March of the Living was founded in 1988, under the leadership of Israeli Likud politician Abraham Hirchson, Shmuel Rosenman, and Israeli attorney Baruch Adler, a child of a Holocaust survivor who was hidden by one of the Righteous Among the Nations. Adler travelled to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1986 to set the groundwork for the first March of the Living, and also to search for his mother's rescuer (but could not make contact until the fall of Communism, after 1989).
Speaking about the founding of the March of the Living, Adler paid tribute to values he learned from his mother and her rescuer. “We believe that our children and grandchildren will continue carrying the torch of identification with the values of loyalty, courage, perseverance and faith in life, and hope that goodness will prevail. This message is well understood, perhaps more than anyone else, by the organizers and participants of the March of the Living."
Since its inception, almost 300,000 participants – including world leaders, educators, Holocaust survivors and students – have taken part in the program.
History The program was established in 1988 and takes place annually for two weeks around April and May, immediately following Passover. The initial program involved approximately 1500 Jewish high school students and teachers, mostly from North America, France, and Israel. Since 1996, it has been held annually.
The Israeli founders of the March of the Living were politician Avraham Hirschson, educator Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, and attorney Baruch Adler. They were assisted in the early years by Jewish communal leaders and philanthropists from the United States (Alvin Schiff, Gene Greenzweig, Dr. David Machlis, and Joseph Wilf, the first North American Chair of the March of the Living), and Canada (Walter Hess, Shlomo Shimon, Rabbi Irwin Witty, and Eli Rubenstein).
In 1988, the initial march gathered considerable media attention. Notable personalities such as Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Yitzhak Navon, Bibi Netanyahu, and some Polish dignitaries were among its attendees. In a 1988 Maariv article, published on the day of the first March of the Living, on April 14, 1988, mention is made of additional important dignitaries in attendance, including: Avraham Sharir, Simcha Dinitz, Shevach Wiess, Matityahu Drobles, and March of the Living cofounder, Avraham Hirschson. Other cofounders in attendance were Dr. Shmuel Rosenman & Baruch Adler.
For the first time since the March's inception, the Israeli delegations have cancelled their participation in the event scheduled for April 14, 2026. This decision was taken in light of concerns for the participants' safety and limitations on the number of passengers flying out of Ben Gurion International Airport under wartime restrictions. Sixty Holocaust survivors from Israel ages 85 to 100 were to have attended, joining some 40 from other countries. (During the years of the COVID-19 pandemic the March was entirely cancelled.) Of an expected 8,800 Marchers from around the globe, the Israeli delegations were to comprise 1,000 participants. These included organizations of IDF Widows and Orphans, Israeli hi-tech companies including Fiverr who for the second year undertook sponsoring Holocaust survivors and their families, Tik-Tok creators, and more.
Special events
Commemoration of World War II death marches Writer and journalist Meir Uziel proposed the name "March of the Living" to contrast the death marches that were typical at the end of World War II. When Nazi Germany withdrew its soldiers from forced-labour camps, inmates – most already starving and stricken by oppressive work – were forced to march hundreds of miles farther west, while those who lagged behind or fell were shot or left to freeze to death in the winter climate. The March of the Living, in contrast to the death marches, serves to illustrate the continued existence of the Jewish people despite Nazi attempts at their obliteration.
Professor Jackie Feldman, quoting Avraham Hirschson, mentions the March of the Living and its relation to the death marches in his book, Above the Death Pits, Beneath the Flag: Youth Voyages to Poland and the Performance of Israeli National Identity:
After spending a week in Poland visiting other sites of Nazi Germany's persecution, such as Majdanek, Treblinka, and the Warsaw Ghetto, and former sites of Jewish life and culture, various Synagogues, many of the participants in the March also travel on to Israel where they observe Yom HaZikaron and celebrate Israel's Independence Day.
Exhibit at the United Nations (2014) In mid January 2014 a new exhibit on the March of the Living opened at the United Nations, which housed the exhibit until the end of March 2014. Titled "When you Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness", the exhibit includes photographs, documents and writings devoted to the 25-year history of the March of the Living.
An interactive component of the exhibition allows visitors to fill out their own pledge of tolerance and compassion which may be taken on the March of the Living and planted alongside thousands of other plaques of tolerance and compassion on the very grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau.March of the Living. CBC Radio: Metro Morning audio recording.
The title of the exhibit is taken from the words of Judy Weissenberg Cohen in a speech given to students on the 1997 March of the Living describing the last time she saw her mother during the selection of Hungarian Jewry in Auschwitz-Birkenau in the spring of 1944.UN to host March of the Living exhibit The Canadian Jewish News, 20 January 2014.New exhibit at UN dedicated to preserving Holocaust memory Jewish World – Jerusalem Post 2014. Holocaust exhibit at UN stresses memory and hope The Times of Israel 2014.
On 10 March 2014, a group of students from New York's Pine Bush High School – part of a district where there have been press reports alleging widespread antisemitism – visited the UN Exhibit. They were addressed by Holocaust survivors Judy Weissenberg Cohen and Fanya Heller, as well as by Rick Carrier, a World War II Liberator.
The UN Exhibit became the basis of a book published in the fall of 2015, titled, Witness: Passing the Torch of Holocaust Memory to New Generations. The book has a unique interactive feature where the survivors, World War II liberators, and Righteous Among the Nations featured in the book, include an invisible link embedded on their image. When their image is accessed with a smart phone or other device, the reader is taken to an excerpt of their video testimony on USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education (created by Steven Spielberg) or March of the Living Digital Archive Project websites. Translations in several other languages are already in the works.
Event in Jerusalem (2016)
In May 2016, the March of the Living held a large celebratory event near Jerusalem on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day). Co-founder, Shmuel Rosenman introduced the ninth president of Israel, Shimon Peres. During his speech, he was quoted saying, "I know people say that Israel is a miracle. Israel is not a miracle – Israel is a belief, a hope, a trust, a land – it's not an accident!...The founding of State of Israel was done by people who believe in human beings, who believe in a better world, who believe peace and friendship. And I'm telling you, this is the future!" "Some people are afraid of anti-Semites – don't be afraid. They have an ugly past, and they'll have a dark future. They believe in eternity and we believe in eternity. Their eternity is hate, our eternity is love....Nobody could have broken us. They hate us, they persecute us, they killed many of us, but we remain and we shall remain, and we shall win because we stand on the side of man, of the right, of justice, of the future!"
"I want to tell you, young and old, the job is not over. But what we have achieved guarantees that we can be over the goal. We can do much more. You can do much more! And you should do much more!"
In recent years the March of the Living (MOTL) has attempted to broaden its focus from only concentrating on the Holocaust, and include other program content in the Poland portion of the trip. These elements include: celebrating Jewish life before the war, establishing dialogue with Polish students, meeting with Polish Righteous among the Nations, and connecting with the contemporary Polish Jewish community.
UN commemoration (2018) in 2018, marking 30 years since the first March, Israel's delegation to the United Nations headquarters held an event with participation from Holocaust Survivors and other ambassadors from around the world. The reports also note a second reason for the gathering, a new law passed in Poland, absolving them of responsibility for the Holocaust. During the event, an exhibition called "Testimony" was inaugurated. The exhibition features a collection of photographs showcasing Holocaust survivors as well as students who have taken part in the parade since 1988, creating an additional experience for its visitors. Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon talked about witnessing attempts rewrite history, saying, "It is precisely from the UN headquarters that was established following the greatest tragedy known to mankind that we must oppose any move to change the face of history and rewrite it. Every day, and especially on this day, it is more important than ever to remember those who perished and perpetuate the truth." March of the Living's president and co-founder Phyllis Heideman said, "We should not see the Holocaust as a historical, distant event, but as a perpetual symbol of darkness and darkness." Co-founder and chairman Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, speaking about the March explained, "The youth go to Poland for a week and from there to Israel for a week. Even before they leave for the trip, 12 meetings are held in which they receive an overview of everything related to the Holocaust and Israel. Close to 40% of the youth, by the way, are not Jewish."
As part of a global initiative to raise awareness about antisemitism, the march includes non-Jewish young people as well. They believe that the key to fighting this disease is through clear and defined efforts to combat it, and they hope to spark a meaningful conversation about the issue.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the U.N. – New York Stock Exchange (2026) On January 27, 2026, Holocaust survivors participated in commemorations for International Holocaust Remembrance Day at both the United Nations headquarters and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City. The events were organized in connection with the International March of the Living and were intended to emphasize the urgency of Holocaust education amid rising global antisemitism.
Among the speakers was Nate Leipciger, a Canadian Holocaust survivor and longtime educator, who addressed attendees at the NYSE. In his remarks, Leipciger emphasized that Holocaust remembrance is not only historical but a moral obligation, warning against denial, distortion, and indifference. He called on institutions, including business and technology leaders, to ensure that progress is guided by human dignity and responsibility.