‘Never Again:’ Czech cycles 620 miles around Auschwitz

A Czech cyclist on Sunday night completed a 620-mile journey in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be marked on Jan. 27.

Identified as Lukáš Klement by Israel’s Government Press Office, the Czech national said that he began his route from the “Gate of Death” at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, where the Nazis in World War II exterminated about 1.1 million inmates, the majority of whom were Jews.

Klement’s route spelled out “Never Again” when depicted on a map.

With ice on his beard, Klement related to GPO that whenever he felt the hardships of cycling in winter conditions, including via roads covered in snow and ice, he thought about what the prisoners of the camp had to endure.

“The survival of the Jewish people enabled me to survive this journey,” he said. He rode a cumulative time of 46 hours, 56 minutes and 26 seconds.

Klement further shared that the idea of the journey was inspired during his work with ZAKA, the Israeli search-and-rescue volunteer organization, to raise awareness ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

His choice of cycling was due to the fact that Jews were prohibited in the 1940s from using methods of transportation other than bicycles, he added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote a letter to Klement praising his initiative.

“Bringing life into a place that has become a symbol of death is an initiative of profound significance. America stands with you,” the ambassador wrote.