2025 March of the Living Hungary. Photo Credit: EMOTL

Holocaust survivor Israel Shaked, a native of Hungary who lost 120 family members in the Holocaust, participated in a death march to Austria and was liberated from the Mauthausen camp said:

“I Was a Witness to the Darkness. I Choose Hope. Do Not Let Hatred Win. Never Again—For Anyone, Anywhere, at Any Time.”

Budapest, Hungary – May 12, 2025 – The March of the Living in Hungary was led yesterday by 60 Holocaust Survivors and 5,000 participants in solemn remembrance of the more than 550,000 Hungarian Jews murdered during the Holocaust, of them 437,000 deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau between May and July 1944 – one of the most rapid and devastating deportation operations of the Holocaust.

The march took place in prominent Jewish memorial sites in Budapest, including the Shoes on the Danube Bank Memorial, Jerusalem Park, and the main stage in front of Várkert Bazár, where speeches, performances, and tributes were held. Holocaust survivors, students, educators, and public figures attended the event, honoring the memory of the victims and reaffirming the importance of Holocaust education and historical accountability.

The commemoration took place in conjunction with the 80th anniversary of liberation and the end of World War II. It was part of broader educational efforts of the International March of the Living, which each year brings together thousands of participants from around the world to march in Europe, to preserve the memory of the Holocaust and promote values of tolerance amid a rise in antisemitism and hatred in all its forms.

Michel Gourary, Director for Europe of the International March of the Living, addressed the gathering, saying: “We must teach our children that history is not distant. That evil can wear a familiar face. That prejudice, once normalized, becomes law. That silence, once accepted, becomes complicity. We must educate the young generations not to be bystanders but to act. The March of the Living is not only about remembering the past. It is about educating future generations to stand against antisemitism and bigotry in all its forms.”

Last month, at the International March of the Living in Poland, 150 Hungarian high school students and their teachers marched with dozens of Hungarian Holocaust survivors and descendants from all over the world. Their involvement reflects the March’s ongoing mission to engage youth in Holocaust education and to foster active remembrance.

Holocaust Survivor Israel Shaked. Photo Credit: Ziv Koren / International March of the Living

Holocaust Survivor Israel Shaked who participated on the march in Poland was born in Hungary in 1942. In 1943, his father was taken for forced labor, fell ill with tuberculosis, and died shortly after. When the Germans invaded Hungary, Israel’s family was forced into the Debrecen ghetto, enduring months of violence, hunger, and disease. They were then deported by train toward Auschwitz, but the train was rerouted to Vienna to supply forced labor after Allied bombings. After months in Vienna, they were sent on a death march to Mauthausen. Israel was liberated in May 1945 from a sub-camp and began the journey home—only to find they were no longer welcome. In 1947, the family immigrated to Israel. Last month Shaked attended the March of The Living in Poland.

“I was two years old when I arrived with my mother, brothers, and sisters—fatherless and orphaned from my extended family who perished in the crematoria—after a death march from Vienna to Mauthausen. There were 130 people in our large and illustrious family, and only 10 of us survived. The March of the Living in Hungary, as in every place around the world, symbolizes the resilient spirit and the enduring strength of the Jewish spirit, despite all the suffering. Despite everything, we will march with pride, in every place, carrying with honor our identity as members of the eternal nation”.

Shaked added: “It is our duty to preserve and protect the memory of the Holocaust forever. We, and the whole world, must remember the Holocaust for all generations, and never allow our enemies to rise again. My message to the world today: “I was a witness to the darkness. I choose hope. Do not let hatred win. Never again—for anyone, anywhere, at any time.”