Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Survivors Susan Rosenberg finds her uncle‘s name in the Book of Names in Auschwitz on April 23, 2025 (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
On Wednesday morning, some 8,000 visitors, including Holocaust survivors, tour Auschwitz, ahead of the official start of March of the Living, marking 80 years since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and the end of World War II.
Survivors enter Block 27, where the seven-meter-long Book of Names is exhibited, with 4,800,000 names of victims of the Holocaust.
Survivor Suzannah Rosenberg finds her uncle, whose last name, Avraham, is listed on one of the first pages of the Book of Names.
Holocaust survivor Ella Katz, part of the delegation from Israel, weeps uncontrollably when she finds the name of her grandmother who was killed in Auschwitz. Katz and her father hid in the forest when she was 2.5 years old.
“I only remember the end, when I was older,” she says. “It was so very cold.”
Ella Katz and her daughter Hait Shaham at Auschwitz on April 23, 2025 (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
Eighty Holocaust survivors will be present at this year’s March of the Living, along with released hostages and hostage family members.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog will attend the 2025 March of the Living from Auschwitz to Birkenau alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Survivor Ella Katz points to a picture of her grandmother’s name in the Book of Names in Block 27 in Auschwitz on April 23, 2025 (Jessica Steinberg/Times of Israel)
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
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