“Everything is important. Nothing is unimportant. Write down everything you see.” Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum who initiated the secret archives “Oneg Shabbat”

Dr. Emanuel Ringelblum was a historian, politician, social activist, and public figure in Poland during the WWII era. He initiated the…

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Remembering Chaim Topol, Z”L

International March of the Living mourns the loss of Chaim Topol, internationally acclaimed actor, artist and humanitarian.Chaim Topol attended the March of the Living on several occasions, serving as an eloquent MC for the central memorial ceremony in Auschwitz-Birkenau on Yom Hashoah at the conclusion of the March. His stirring narration and evocative singing will be forever remembered by those who had the privilege of attending the March of the Living with him.His heartfelt singing of Eli,Eli on the 2012 March of the Living may be viewed here: May his family be granted comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

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“Be Strong and Courageous”, Last Words of Roza Robota, Member of the Jewish Resistance in Auschwitz-Birkenau

Roza Robota was born in 1921 in Ciechanów, Poland, a town north of Warsaw. In her teenage years she joined the Hashomer Hatzair Zionist Youth Movement. In November 1942 she was deported with her family to Auschwitz. With the exception of Roza, all were sent to the gas chambers. She was imprisoned in Auschwitz 1 and was later moved to the women’s camp in Birkenau.Roza Robota was a part of a group of women working in the nearby Union munitions factory that enabled the rebellion in Birkenau, a revolt during which the Jews blew up two crematoriums and killed several Nazis. Her role was to smuggle gunpowder to the Sonderkommando units working in the gas chambers who were participating in the revolt.Roza arranged an underground group of women who carefully smuggled leftover gun powder in tiny amounts every day into Auschwitz – between one to three teaspoons a day. They would rub the material on their bodies, risking their lives as they underwent daily checks by the Germans. When the women reached the camp, they would hand the gunpowder to Roza, who would pass it to the group of undercover members who planned the rebellion in the camp.The weapon smuggling activity was carried out for more than 6 months – the Sonderkommando would bury the material in different areas near the crematoriums. On October 7, 1944, the rebellion broke out and the rebels managed to blow up one crematorium and disable one incinerator in Birkenau while seriously damaging another. During the rebellion, they injured more than twenty SS soldiers and killed three of them. A few hundred Sonderkommando even managed to escape from the camp, but the Germans hunted down those who escaped, catching and executing most of them.The Germans realized that the gunpowder came from their own factory. They caught several women who were responsible for transferring the gunpowder to Roza. The women did not reveal the smuggling network. Despite this, Roza Robota was caught and put in Block 11 – the infamous torture block of the Gestapo in Auschwitz 1. Despite undergoing severe torture she did not break, and said nothing of the underground operation and their plans.. Research has proven that had she revealed the secrets, dozens of underground members would have been executed. But Roza did not break.Before she was executed, she was visited by a fellow member of the underground, Noa Zabaldoich. “I did not tell them”, she told him, assuring him that she did not succumb to the brutal Nazi torture.After the war, Noa Zabaldoich recalled his last encounter with her:“I entered Roza’s cell, on the cold concrete floor lay a figure looking like a bundle of worn-out clothes. At the sound of the door opening, she turned to face me. I almost didn’t recognize her. Her eyes stayed the same; they looked gloomy and sad. Moments passed before a heavy sigh broke out from her heart. She then spoke her last words, “I did not tell” as she wanted her friends to know that they don’t need to be afraid. We must continue. It was easier for her to die knowing that we continued our mission. It’s a pity for life and that that’s how she left the world, what was her doing? She was not sorry for her actions, and that is how she died. She gave me a letter for the members that remained alive. She signed it “Be strong and courageous”. It was time for me to go, and I left the bunker. It was the last time I saw her face, but the image of her was one I will never forget”On January 6, 1945, three weeks before the liberation of the camp and two weeks before its evacuation, Roza along with three other women – Ala Gertner, Ester Wajcblum, and Regina Safirsztajn – who were accomplices in the underground operations were executed. The other camp inmates were forced to attend the hangings. They reported that Roza Robota’s last words before she was executed was “Revenge” or “Be strong and courageous”. This was the last time Nazis managed to hang people in Auschwitz.Roza Robota left a legacy of heroism by risking and sacrificing her very life, leading her fellow female inmates in one of the most courageous acts of resistance during the Shoah.In 2023, as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, International March of the Living is commemorating the heroic Jewish resistance that took place in the ghettos, camps and forests all across Nazi occupied Europe.Note: Several March of the Living survivor educators were Auschwitz survivors. Two of them – Max Eisen and Anna Heilman – were in Auschwitz at the time of the hanging of the four women and shared their recollections with students on the March of the Living. (Anna Heilman’s sister, Ester Wajcblum, was in fact, one of the four women executed along with Roza Robota.)See links below to their moving testimonies in Auschwitz on the March of the Living. Max Eisen (4:17) Anna Heilman (3:50)

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Remembering Pawel Lichter, z”l

International March of the Living mourns the loss of Holocaust Survivor and Educator Pawel Lichter, Z”L, who passed away on February…

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Fundraising Goal Achieved for Restoration of Children’s Shoes from Auschwitz

PRESS RELEASE Fundraising Goal Achieved for Restoration of Children’s Shoes from Auschwitz International March of the Living proudly announces achieving fundraising goal of its…

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Remember Shevach Weiss, Z”L

International March of the Living mourns the loss of Shevach Weiss beloved Holocaust survivor, former Knesset speaker and Israeli ambassador to Poland. Shevach Weiss,…

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Saving the World Entire: Rescuers During the Holocaust

“Whoever saves a single life, saves the world entire”– The TalmudPremiered Jan. 27, 2023 International Holocaust Remembrance DayA powerful testament to the courage of the Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.Moving archival testimony – provided by the USC Shoah Foundation and March of the Living – focuses on four Polish rescuers whose stories have been shared with March of the Living students.Directed & Produced by Naomi WiseExecutive Producer: Dr. David MachlisSpecial Thanks: Elkie Rosen Foundation 

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Holocaust survivor Naftali Furst joins campaign to preserve memory of children murdered in Auschwitz, as world commemorates Jan. 27th liberation day

Holocaust survivor Naftali Furst: “I was sent to Auschwitz, together with my family, from a prison camp in Slovakia towards the end of the war, in November 1944, when I was 12 years old.The Death March was the hardest thing for us. We marched through hell, we walked for three days in the freezing cold, without food, without being able to stop, seeing  so many who could not continue to march and died near us until we reached an open train in the snow, which took us on the days long, freezing cold journey to Buchenwald.”Last week Naftali visited Auschwitz conservation lab as part of the From Soul to Sole campaign to preserve some 8,000 children’s shoes. While holding the shoes of children who were murdered at Auschwitz, Naftali said:“I am alive thanks to my shoes, which by luck I managed to maintain while at Auschwitz. Without them I wouldn’t have survived the Death March. The children’s shoes at Auschwitz are the symbol of the tragedy of European Jewry. Preserving them is holy work. I am so moved to be here and to see how the work is being done, and I think about my family that was murdered – their shoes could be here.”Join the From Soul to Sole campaign to preserve the memory of the children murdered during the Holocaust. This form is currently closed for submissions.

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As world marks Jan. 27 commemoration, Holocaust survivor Angela Orosz supports effort to preserve Auschwitz children’s shoes

Angela Orosz was born in Auschwitz on December 21, 1944, weighing only one kilogram, just over a month before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945.  “I was too weak to cry, and this saved my life. Nobody thought that I would survive, but here am I, alive”.Angela is a Holocaust survivor and educator from Montreal who has joined several delegations on the March of the Living on their visits to Poland.Angela is advocating on behalf of the From Soul to Sole campaign to restore some 8,000 children’s shoes housed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and in desperate need of conservation.Join us to preserve the memory of the 1.5 million children murdered during the Holocaust and help protect the historical evidence of the heinous crimes of Nazi Germany. 

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Remembering Martin Baranek, Z”L

International March of the Living deeply mourns the loss of Martin Baranek, beloved Holocaust survivor and educator. Martin Baranek shared his moving story on…

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