Wednesday, May 28, 2008
23 Iyar, 5678

Dear March of the Living Friends,

The 2008 March of the Living, which concluded just a few weeks ago, marked a significant milestone in the history of the March of the Living.

Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel, this year the March of the Living celebrated its 20th anniversary. Over 10,000 people – students, educators and survivors from around the world, young and old alike – marched from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom Hashoah, where they pledged to build a better world for the Jewish people and for all humanity.

Many noteworthy guests joined us for the first time on this year’s March of the Living. Among them were: Lt. General Gabi Ash`kenazi, Chief of Staff of the IDF, who was accompanied by a number of courageous Israeli soldiers wounded in battle; the Japanese Hashachar Choir whose singing of Yiddish and Hebrew songs touched the hearts of all who were present; Holocaust survivor Felix Zandman who was joined by the righteous woman who saved his life; Chaim Topol, the legendary Jewish performer. And, as is his custom, the March of the Living was again fortunate to be joined by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel and a Holocaust survivor, who has not missed a single March of the Living since it first began in 1988.

But the March is not confined to a single moment or event in Poland. There were many other moving and touching moments in Poland – in Majdanek, in Treblinka, in Belzec… in Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow, and throughout the entire country.

Israel, too, was an exceptional experience this year. Thousands of Jewish students from the Diaspora took part in local Yom Hazikaron ceremonies, and then joined Israel in celebrating the country’s Yom Ha’atsmaut festivities. In contrast to the somber March from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom Hashoah, on Yom Ha’atsmaut the students joyfully marched through the old city of Jerusalem to the Western Wall, and later that day, completed their celebration of Yom Ha’atsmaut at a stirring and uplifting concert in Latrun.

The board of directors of the March of the Living and its international staff worked tirelessly over the last year to ensure that this year’s program ran smoothly and professionally. However, the success of the March of the Living this year, and over the last 20 years, does not only lie with our staff, as capable as they are.

The March of the Living primarily owes its excellent reputation, growth and vibrancy to you… the professional staff, the Holocaust educators, the lay leaders and other volunteers from around the world, who have committed themselves to this program with a passion, zeal and dedication unmatched in the Jewish educational world. The care, effort and energy that each of your communities has invested in the March of the Living is why this program is the most impactful Holocaust education program for young people today. No other educational program for Jewish youth has so many committed and dedicated volunteers as does the March of the Living – and this is, in large measure, is the reason for both its outstanding quality and continued growth.

Praise must also be given to our survivors and our young people - the most precious treasure of the Jewish people today. With each March of the Living, the torch of memory is passed from one generation to the next, from a relatively small handful of survivors to thousands of young people.

We must pay tribute to these students who, each year, have decided to take part in the March of the Living. These fine students take out two weeks from their lives – as well as many more hours in pre-and post follow up sessions – to participate in one of the most intense experiences of their lives. We are fortunate to be blessed with a generation of Jewish youth who are so committed to Israel, to remembering the Holocaust, to strengthening their Jewish identity and
to Tikkun Olam.

We are saving our last expression of appreciation for our most honored and bravest group of people: Our Holocaust survivors.

Over the past twenty years, thousands of Holocaust survivors have embarked on this difficult journey to Poland, with one goal in mind: to share their story with the next generation so that the events and lessons of the Shoah, will never, ever be forgotten.

As I said in my speech on Yom Hashoah at the gates of Auschwitz, the survivors are our witnesses, our prophets, the last link to a world that is no more. It is not easy, physically or psychologically, for the survivors, many of whom are now in their 80s, to make this journey. Yet, they return each year to the March, where they eloquently and courageously entrust their story to the hearts of the next generation.

To each and every survivor who has participated in the March of the Living, we cannot help but express our profound gratitude for your willingness to open your hearts, to share those most painful memories, in order to build a better world.

In closing, let me once again express my deepest appreciation to all of you, my friends and colleagues from around the world, many of whom I have been working with for over two decades. It has been an honor and a privilege to be your partner in this endeavor, and I look forward to many years of continued cooperation in this sacred mission.

In a few weeks, Jewish communities around the world will be observing Shavuot, the chag that celebrates Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people, the same Torah the Nazis desecrated, burnt and trod upon in so many places throughout Europe. But as the Talmud tells us, “the paper may burn, but the letters ascend to heaven” - force can never conquer sprit.

In a similar vein, your efforts with the March of the Living both ensure and prove that the message of the Jewish people and the values of the Torah will never be extinguished.

Please share the contents of this letter with your local March of the Living chairs, lay people, volunteers, staff, students and survivors.

Wishing you and your families a Chag Sameach,

Dr. Shmuel Rosenman
Chairman
March of the Living International