by Dr. Doron Avraham

In early May, the annual March of the Living—for years an inseparable part of Holocaust Remembrance Day events—took place in Poland. This year, the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII, an unprecedented number of people (about 18,000 from around the world) participated in the March, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

In preparation for the March, the School’s European Department produced all the educational material that accompanied the event. The series of study units, tailor-made for both participants and guides, enabled them to orient themselves at the sites visited and understand their history. The series included a general background on the Holocaust in Europe, chronologically and geographically, as well as a unit dealing specifically with Poland, including a survey of its prewar large Jewish communities and their fate during the Holocaust. The material was produced in seven languages—English, French, German, Polish, Hungarian, Spanish and Russian, and was designed specifically for the requirements of the various participants in the March this year.

For the first time ever, the School also trained dozens of guides in five languages to guide the participants. “Training the guides is a critical factor for the success of the educational element of the trip to Poland,” noted School Director Dr. Motti Shalem.

Four thousand participants concluded the March of the Living with educational activities at Yad Vashem, where the story of the Holocaust was connected to the “Return to Life” of Holocaust survivors and the establishment of the State of Israel.

The author is Head of the European Department at the International School for Holocaust Studies.

top