The Iran war forces impacts The March of the Living
Israeli delegations will not travel to Poland for this year’s March of the Living, the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day event that follows the route from Auschwitz to Birkenau.
The annual March of the Living at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in Poland, April 28, 2022. Photo by Aloni Mor/MOTL.
The organisation cited heightened security risks for flights departing Israel via Ben Gurion Airport, alongside restrictions on passenger numbers and a reduction in daily flights.
Sixty Holocaust survivors from Israel were expected to lead the march, together with 40 survivors from other countries. Their participation has now been cancelled. Organisers said that, given the emergency situation, transporting dozens of survivors aged 80–100 posed unacceptable risks and complex logistical and security challenges.
According to March of the Living Israel, the decision followed detailed assessments with airlines and relevant authorities, which concluded it would not be possible to safely organise the departure of Israeli groups. Around 1,000 of the anticipated 8,800 global participants were due to arrive from Israel for the April 14 march between Auschwitz and Birkenau.
Among the cancelled delegations were an October 7 group including former hostages, initiated by the Menomadin Foundation and its founder Haim Taib; a delegation from the IDF Widows and Orphans Organisation; hundreds of workers from Israel’s high‑tech sector; representatives of 26 tech firms and venture capital funds; and a group of TikTok creators.
“With a heavy yet resolute heart… we are forced to announce the cancellation of the delegations departing from Israel,” said Revital Yakin Krakovsky, CEO of March of the Living Israel. She vowed that Israel’s delegation would return “next year with heads held high.”
Micha Kaufman, Founder and CEO of Fiverr, said the tech sector’s partnership is a “lifelong commitment,” adding that as the number of survivors declines, their responsibility “only grows stronger,” and they are already looking ahead to next year’s march.
