Holocaust survivors affected by October 7 to attend March of the Living at Auschwitz

Seven Holocaust survivors whose lives were affected by the October 7 onslaught on Israel are preparing to attend this year’s March of the Living event in Poland.

The march, which the March of the Living nonprofit holds annually at the Auschwitz former death camp on Israel’s national Holocaust memorial day, Yom Hashoah, is set to happen on May 6 this year, with the October 7 delegation leading.

Bella Haim, grandmother of the Yotam Haim, who was kidnapped during the attack and later accidentally killed by Israeli troops in Gaza while trying to escape; Danit Gabay, who was with her children at Kibbutz Re’im during the terror onslaught; and Daniel Louz from Kibbutz Be’eri are among the members of the delegation. They are among 55 Holocaust survivors set to attend the march, along with thousands of Jews, many of them members of youth movements from across the world.

This year’s event also features a commemorative march in Budapest to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the destruction of Hungarian Jewry, organizers say.

“This year’s March of the Living holds profound significance, as the horrors of the past intertwine with the present ongoing nightmare faced by the State of Israel,” reads a statement published today that is undersigned by Shmuel Rosenman and Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, the chairman and president, respectively, of the International March of the Living organization.

“The recent incomprehensible massacre on October 7 serves as a constant reminder of the persistent threat posed by antisemitic hatred,” they write.