On April 24, the Auschwitz State Museum in Poland held its traditional March of the Living event.
This international event brings together young people, teachers, the elderly, and Holocaust witnesses to walk a symbolic route from Auschwitz I, a former Nazi concentration camp, to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the site of the mass murder of mainly Jewish people. Walking together along the road for several kilometers reminds us of those driven to their deaths and of the events that occurred here during World War II. It also reminds us of the Death March organized in many concentration camps in 1945, when inmates were driven on foot into Germany in anticipation of exploiting them for labor. This 3.5-kilometer march involving different generations is known as the March of the Living because it symbolizes the defeat of Nazism and the triumph of good over evil.
In 2025, for the fifth time, representatives of the Lithuanian educational community participated in the March of the Living in Poland, with more than 12,000 people from 40 countries. Emanuelis Zingeris, chairman of the international commission, signatory of the act of independence, and member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, attended the international event with Lithuanian teachers and students. This year’s March of the Living was a symbolic event marking 80 years since the end of World War II and the Holocaust, the systematic killing of innocent people in concentration camps. The event was attended by two presidents, Andrzej Duda of Poland and Isaac Herzog of Israel, as well as 80 elderly Holocaust survivors. At the event, Barbara Frankiss, one of the Polish Holocaust survivors, said, “One should always think of others, not only of oneself, and resist indifference with all one’s might. Because, unfortunately, evil does exist.” Another survivor said Auschwitz is an emotionally difficult place, but seeing so many positive, friendly young people makes you feel good and want to celebrate life.
The March of the Living is a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust at the main Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial. It is also an opportunity for people to socialize and get to know each other. Jewish and Austrian youth mingled with Lithuanian schoolchildren and adults as they marched in the procession. During the walk, which was a few kilometers long, there was active and friendly interaction: the Jewish young people exchanged badges, bracelets, symbolic signatures, and contacts with the Lithuanians. Initially Lithuanian, the Lithuanian delegation became international as they approached the Auschwitz-Birkenau site.
The next day, after the March of the Living event at the Auschwitz Museum, on the way back to Lithuania, the Lithuanian educational community visited Treblinka, a former Nazi death camp where 750,000 to 800,000 people were killed between 1942 and 1943.
The Lithuanian delegation consisted of nearly 100 participants, including teachers and students from schools with Tolerance Education Centers, such as Alytus Putinų Gymnasium, Marijampolė Sūduvos Gymnasium, Kaunas Juozas Grušas Art Gymnasium, Josvainiai Gymnasium (Kėdainiai dist.), Kaunas Jonas and Petras Vileišis School, Kaunas Maironis Academic Gymnasium, Kėdainiai Vocational Training Center, Lithuanian Sports University Kedainiai “Aušra” progymnasium, Mažeikiai Merkelis Račkauskas Gymnasium, Vidukle S. Stanevicius Gymnasium, Vilnius Žara Gymnasium, Vilnius Naujamiestis School, Raseiniai Šaltinis Progymnasium, Panevėžys Juozas Miltinis Gymnasium, Radviliškis Lizdeika Gymnasium, Turgeliai Aistuvos Gymnasium (Šalčininkai district). Lithuania was also represented by education specialists and museum professionals from the Prienai Regional Museum, the Sugihara House-Museum of Kaunas, the Meilė Lukšienė Education Center of Marijampolė, the Baisogala Cultural Center of the Radviliškis District, and the Jewish Community of the Šiauliai District.
The March of the Living has been held annually since 1988. This event commemorates Yom HaShoah, a day to remember the victims of the Holocaust and the heroic resistance to Nazism in Jewish communities. Historically, this day is linked to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. The March of the Living is organized by the International March of the Living. Since 2019, the Secretariat of the International Commission has participated in the event after signing a cooperation agreement with the EMOTL (European March of the Living) organization.
