A large international law enforcement delegation joined the March of the Living Holocaust commemoration event in Poland on Thursday, bringing 65 officers from several countries to the Auschwitz-Birkenau former death camp.
The officers from countries including Estonia, Germany, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States marched side by side with Holocaust survivors, Jewish community members, and educators through the grounds at the annual march.
The Jewish people’s largest commemoration event in Poland, the march is held on Yom Hashoah, Israel’s national day of mourning for the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis and their collaborators against the Jews of Europe and the Middle East during World War II.
The law enforcement delegation, which is coming for the third consecutive year, was organized by the Miller Center on Policing and Community Resilience at Rutgers University in collaboration with the University of Virginia.
Organizers conducted a professional development course on site for police executives on Holocaust education and democratic responsibility. Participants received certificates and academic credit for completing the program.
“This is more than a symbolic gesture,” said Paul Goldenberg, a senior fellow for transnational security at the Miller Center. “This is about ensuring that law enforcement around the world understands the dark history of their profession’s role during the Holocaust and pledges never to be used again as instruments of terror and oppression,” he told JNS.
“We made a commitment at Auschwitz—Never Again on our watch. That’s a phrase deeply rooted in policing culture. It means: While we stand guard, atrocities like the Holocaust must never be allowed to happen again,” he said.
Police officers in uniform were embraced by Holocaust survivors and onlookers during the march, Goldenberg said. At a commemorative ceremony at the Krakow Opera House, the group received a standing ovation from 750 attendees, a tribute to the commitment of law enforcement to uphold democratic values.
Since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish communities across the globe have faced an alarming surge in antisemitic threats and violence—often with police under scrutiny for their response.
“Police today must play a proactive role in confronting antisemitism, not just protecting communities after attacks occur,” Goldenberg emphasized. “Education is critical, but so is relationship-building. We’re here to foster trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve—especially Jewish communities that have often felt vulnerable or overlooked.”
Visiting Auschwitz will help senior police officers understand the significance of the antisemitic and genocidal hate speech often heard at anti-Israel events, which have proliferated and grown throughout the West after Oct. 7, 2023, Goldenberg said.