Israeli President Isaac Herzog traveled to Poland on Thursday to lead the 2025 March of the Living at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, marking 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camps and the end of World War II.
This year’s march, taking place on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah), features 80 survivors aged 80 to 97, including survivors of multiple death camps and children who were hidden during the war.
They are joined by a delegation of 10 Israelis freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza, bereaved families, relatives of hostages still being held, victims of terrorism, and representatives of Israel’s high-tech sector.
The former hostages participating in the march are Agam Berger, Hagar Brodutch, Chen Goldstein-Almog, Ori Megidish, Almog Meir Jan, Gadi Moses, Raaya Rotem, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel and Moran Stella Yanai.
They are joined by family members of those murdered or still held captive, including the parents of Omer Shem-Tov; the parents of Hanan Yablonka and Ofir Tzarfati, both murdered and abducted to Gaza; the widow of Ron Binyamin; relatives of Shani Louk and Tomer Achimas, whose bodies were recovered from Gaza; Daniel Weiss of Kibbutz Be’eri, whose parents were killed or taken hostage; and Holocaust survivors who are grandparents of current hostages.
The delegation was coordinated by the Hostages and Missing Persons Department in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Before the march, Herzog met with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Oswiecim to discuss bilateral cooperation, antisemitism and ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages. The two leaders delivered joint press statements, laid a wreath at the Black Wall in Auschwitz, and toured the permanent Israeli Holocaust exhibit in Block 27. They also met with youth delegations from Israel and Poland.
“I believe that our joint presence here today—in this sacred place—reflects our shared commitment to march toward a common future founded also on the memory of the past,” Herzog said at the press conference. “Renewing the Israeli-Polish youth delegations is an important step in that direction.
“In days when antisemitism rears its ugly head, often cloaked in vile hatred of Israel and calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, we must stand firm and breathe life into the promise of ‘Never Again,’ through legislation, enforcement, education, and culture,” he said.
Duda told reporters, “I am thankful to the president of Israel for coming here today to participate in the March of the Living, together with Jewish youth from all over the world, at a very significant moment—80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.
“We must not remain silent in the face of hatred between peoples. We must not remain silent in the face of racist or ethnic hatred. If we are silent, the end result can be what happened here at the hands of the Germans during World War II—when wild hatred drove them to annihilate the Jewish people,” added the Polish head of state.
The march started at 1 p.m. Poland time, and Herzog will deliver an address during the central memorial ceremony at Birkenau at 3:30 p.m., alongside Duda and the Holocaust survivors. Among the participants are Aliza Wittis-Shomron, who fought in the Warsaw Ghetto, and Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, great-grandson of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who will march with survivors liberated by Allied forces, including Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, a former chief rabbi of Israel and chairman of Yad Vashem, who is a survivor of Buchenwald.
Security has been tightened in light of recent antisemitic demonstrations in Warsaw, but organizers stress the importance of continuing the tradition of remembrance and unity.