South Florida Sun-Sentinel
By Randall P. Lieberman
Daniella Cohen — a senior at Weinbaum Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton — was affected deeply by what she saw on the recent March of the Living — Southern Region Holocaust educational trip to Poland and Israel that she went on.
Genia Kutner, 86, of Delray Beach, was among eight survivors with 118 teens on the recent March of the Living — Southern Region Holocaust educational trip. Kutner befriended Mike Lazarus and Amanda Shore, both 18 and from Boca. (Submitted photo)
Genia Kutner, 86, of Delray Beach, was among eight survivors with 118 teens on the recent March of the Living — Southern Region Holocaust educational trip. Kutner befriended Mike Lazarus and Amanda Shore, both 18 and from Boca. (Submitted photo)
Cohen wrote the following in an article in the “Yeshiva Highlites,” a school online newsletter: “No matter how many pictures I have seen, movies I have watched, or stories I have heard, there is nothing comparable to actually being at those horrifying sites. The experience was all the more powerful for me because my great-grandparents were Holocaust survivors. Standing near the crematoria at Birkenau and listening to the esteemed Rabbi Lau tell his unbelievable tale of survival at the March of the Living ceremony, I could picture the incidents of brutal torture or miraculous escape in my own ancestors’ history.”
Every year, more than 10,000 students from all over the world travel to Poland to take the March — a 3-kilometer (1.86-mile) walk from the Auschwitz concentration camp to the Birkenau concentration camp on Yom HaShoah (“Holocaust Remembrance Day”). The March is thought of as a tribute to all the victims of the Holocaust, many of whom followed that very same route on Nazi death marches.
After spending a week in Poland visiting spots of Nazi Germany’s persecution and former sites of Jewish life and culture, many March participants also then travel to Israel the next week to cap the trip.
This year, the Southern Region of the March of the Living (based at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County) had its largest contingent ever from Boca Raton, with 80 Boca marchers out of a total of 118 high school juniors and seniors joining the Southern Region’s trip.
The students were accompanied by eight local Holocaust survivors (two on each of four student buses), Rabbi Josh Broide (the Federation’s director of community engagement and a representative of Boca Raton Synagogue), Rabbi Baruch Plotkin (rabbi in residence at Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton), and 26 other staffers and adult volunteers for a total of 36 adults on the trip.
The participants traveled to the depths of the Holocaust in the camps, ghettos and remnants of the once-thriving Jewish communities in Poland, and took part in the March of the Living with more than 11,000 cohorts from about 45 countries.
From the ashes of Poland, the participants went on to discover the wonders of the modern State of Israel. They made new friends and observed Yom HaZikaron (“Israeli Memorial Day”) with poignant ceremonies in the Federation’s sister city, Kiryat Bialik, in the Haifa District. They also toured historic sites, and, finally, joyously celebrated Yom HaAtzmaut.
About the March, Cohen wrote: “Together, we visited concentration camps, death camps and ghettos, a mere few among thousands of locations where Nazis destroyed and massacred Jewish people during the Holocaust. Although we often hear the phrase, ‘Our survivors won’t be around much longer,’ it never becomes trite. It gets more true by the year.
“The March provided me with the ability to not only befriend survivors but also, and perhaps more importantly, to relive their pasts and view the settings of their stories firsthand. These amazing heroes taught us, before and during our trip, about the strength and courage ingrained in each of us and in our nation.
“When we spent a fun-filled, inspirational week in Israel, our trip had come full circle. It was clear to all us Marchers that the Nazis failed. We as a Jewish people have never given up. Out of the devastation of the Holocaust, we fought for and re-conquered our homeland. The contrast between the appalling concentration camps and the magnificent Kotel [the Western Wall in Israel] says it all: ‘We are still here, and we will always prevail.’”
Added Jack Rosenbaum, director of the Southern Region: “We find that children who feel they have challenges in their lives come back from this trip better understanding how trivial their obstacles are compared to what the survivors had to endure during the Shoah. This trip creates stronger citizens of the world who can look at life through a Jewish lens. I am so blessed to have this job because I get to see and hear the results following our annual trip.”
Holocaust survivor Genia Kutner, 86, of Delray Beach, had never been on a March of the Living before but was convinced to go this year by her friend Sam Ron, 91, also of Delray Beach, who went on his sixth March this year.
Kutner said: “I had such bad memories I did not want to go back to Poland, but Sam convinced me I should go anyway. People were telling me not to make such a trip at my age, but I am glad I did. It was such an emotional experience and I made such friends with many of the young people on the trip. I will never forget it. It is important that every Jewish child goes on this trip. It will change their lives.”
Added Ron: “This is a life-changing trip for the kids and solidifies their connection to being Jewish. That’s why I do it year after year.”
Recruitment for next year’s March of the Living is underway for students entering grades 11 and 12. The student trip will be May 1-15, 2016. For more information, visit http://www.molsouth.org, email mol@bocafed.org, or call 561-852-6013.
Originally published HERE.
