The crowds, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog, silently walked through the former death camp to commemorate the 80th anniversary of its liberation
April 24, 2025 14:26
By Jacob Jaffa
A number of former Hamas hostages have joined Holocaust survivors in attending the annual March of the Living to mark Yom Hashoah.
Crowds of marchers walked silently through Auschwitz and emerged from under its infamous gate to commemorate the thousands who were murdered at the former extermination camp by the Nazi regime and the millions of Holocaust victims more generally.
Around 1.2 million Jews were deported to Auschwitz during the Second World War, with 900,000 believed to have been killed in its gas chambers. With a total death toll of 1.1 million, including Jews, Poles, Romani and prisoners of war, it was the deadliest concentration camp of the Third Reich.
The event held extra poignancy this year as it took in the 80th anniversary of the camp's liberation (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
Notable faces in the procession included Israeli President Isaac Herzog, his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and Holocaust survivor Mark Spigelman. They were joined by ten former hostages, including Eli Sharabi, who survived 491 days in Hamas captivity and has become a prominent campaigner for the remaining hostages since his release.
The other hostages participating were Agam Berger, Hagar Brodutch, Chen Goldstein-Almog, Ori Megidish, Almog Meir Jan, Gadi Moses, Raaya Rotem, Keith Siegel and Moran Stella Yanai.
They were joined by several Holocaust survivors, including Mark Spigelman (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
They were joined by family members of some of those murdered by Hamas or still held captive in Gaza, including the parents of Omer Shem-Tov, the parents of Hanan Yablonka and Ofir Tzarfati, the widow of Ron Binyamin, relatives of Shani Louk and Tomer Achimas, and Daniel Weiss, whose parents were taken hostage and are presumed dead.
This year’s march held particular significance as 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which is seen as the de facto end of the Holocaust.
Images from the event show people, many draped in Israeli flags, praying, holding hands, smiling and weeping as they made their way through the camp compound.
Some marchers prayed and wept as the processed through the camp complex (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
In a joint press conference with Duda ahead of the event, Herzog emphasised their two country’s joint efforts to combat antisemitism and to secure the release of the hostages.
He said: “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.
"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.”
Others left messages of memorial and photos of Holocaust victims on the camp's infamous train tracks (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
The event culminated in attendees walking out from the 'Arbeit Macht Frei' gate, an enduring symbol of the horrors of the Holocaust (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
Duda added: “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 the Second World War – when wild hatred drove them to annihilate the Jewish people.”
